Chinese Central Bank to Test Launch Its Digital Currency in 2 Cities
- The first pilot launch is anticipated to be as soon as the end of this year.

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) is planning to launch its much anticipated central bank-backed digital currency (CBDC) in two cities - Shenzhen and Suzhou - initially for testing purposes.
Reported by local financial news agency Caijing, the central bank has partnered with seven state-owned companies, among which four are commercial banks and three telecom giants. The report, however, did not disclose the name of the partner companies.
Earlier Forbes revealed that the first batch of the digital currency would be distributed to China Construction Bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China, and the Chinese banking association Union Pay, along with two tech giants - Alibaba and Tencent.
Dubbed digital currency electronic payment (DC/EP), the PBoC is designing the digital currency in a centralized way to control is distribution. It is also believed to make the usage of yuan more prominent on an international level.
The report also outlined that the central bank will first launch the Shenzhen pilot program, which will be conducted in two phases. The regulator will widely promote the digital currency in the city next year after a controlled trial by the end of this year.
Competiton to Facebook's Libra Libra Libra is a yet-to-be-released cryptocurrency proposed by Facebook, Inc., that will aim to serve as a global payment system and a stable financial infrastructure that people across the world can use. The projected release date of the libra cryptocurrency is currently slated for 2020, while the project is currently being managed by the Libra Association.Headquartered from Geneva, Switzerland, the Libra Association main purpose is founded on three pillars.This includes the provision of a framework of governance oversight for the Libra network and Libra reserve, overseeing active operations and longevity of the Libra payment system, and facilitating the flow of services of the Libra Blockchain.The Libra Association is overseen by the Libra Association Council.This is comprised of organizations from the technology, telecommunication, payment, blockchain, venture capital, and nonprofit sectors.The creators of the coin are Morgan Beller, who initially started working on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology at Facebook in 2017, David Marcus, and Kevin Weil. Before the announcement of the Libra cryptocurrency on June 18th, 2019, Facebook had been considering coining the digital currency GlobalCoin or Facebook Coin.Will Libra Ever Launch? Facebook has expressed multiple times that they will not launch the Libra cryptocurrency until all regulatory matters have been met.Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has since assured lawmakers that Libra would not launch without first acquiring approval from United States regulators. Past participants of the Libra Association who left in October of 2019 include PayPal, eBay, Book Holdings, Mercado Pago, Visa, Stripe, and MasterCard. It should be noted that the source code for Libra is written in Rust that is open-source through the Apache License. What’s unique about Libra is that it will not depend upon cryptocurrency mining while only members of the Libra Association will be in a position to validate and process transactions. Facebook plans to launch a digital wallet known as Calibra in 2020, which will serve as an avenue for acquiring Libra along with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Libra is a yet-to-be-released cryptocurrency proposed by Facebook, Inc., that will aim to serve as a global payment system and a stable financial infrastructure that people across the world can use. The projected release date of the libra cryptocurrency is currently slated for 2020, while the project is currently being managed by the Libra Association.Headquartered from Geneva, Switzerland, the Libra Association main purpose is founded on three pillars.This includes the provision of a framework of governance oversight for the Libra network and Libra reserve, overseeing active operations and longevity of the Libra payment system, and facilitating the flow of services of the Libra Blockchain.The Libra Association is overseen by the Libra Association Council.This is comprised of organizations from the technology, telecommunication, payment, blockchain, venture capital, and nonprofit sectors.The creators of the coin are Morgan Beller, who initially started working on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology at Facebook in 2017, David Marcus, and Kevin Weil. Before the announcement of the Libra cryptocurrency on June 18th, 2019, Facebook had been considering coining the digital currency GlobalCoin or Facebook Coin.Will Libra Ever Launch? Facebook has expressed multiple times that they will not launch the Libra cryptocurrency until all regulatory matters have been met.Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has since assured lawmakers that Libra would not launch without first acquiring approval from United States regulators. Past participants of the Libra Association who left in October of 2019 include PayPal, eBay, Book Holdings, Mercado Pago, Visa, Stripe, and MasterCard. It should be noted that the source code for Libra is written in Rust that is open-source through the Apache License. What’s unique about Libra is that it will not depend upon cryptocurrency mining while only members of the Libra Association will be in a position to validate and process transactions. Facebook plans to launch a digital wallet known as Calibra in 2020, which will serve as an avenue for acquiring Libra along with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Read this Term
The PBoC reportedly initiated the development process in 2014. However, it suddenly accelerated its pace in mid-2019 after the announcement of Facebook’s Libra.
“Previously, [the central bank] was in no hurry doing this. Recently, all [of] a sudden, they accelerated,” several sources told the local publication.
Along with China, central banks of other countries are also planning to launch a digital currency. Most recently, the Bank of France's governor announced the bank’s plan to launch a digital currency by next year.
The People's Bank of China (PBoC) is planning to launch its much anticipated central bank-backed digital currency (CBDC) in two cities - Shenzhen and Suzhou - initially for testing purposes.
Reported by local financial news agency Caijing, the central bank has partnered with seven state-owned companies, among which four are commercial banks and three telecom giants. The report, however, did not disclose the name of the partner companies.
Earlier Forbes revealed that the first batch of the digital currency would be distributed to China Construction Bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China, and the Chinese banking association Union Pay, along with two tech giants - Alibaba and Tencent.
Dubbed digital currency electronic payment (DC/EP), the PBoC is designing the digital currency in a centralized way to control is distribution. It is also believed to make the usage of yuan more prominent on an international level.
The report also outlined that the central bank will first launch the Shenzhen pilot program, which will be conducted in two phases. The regulator will widely promote the digital currency in the city next year after a controlled trial by the end of this year.
Competiton to Facebook's Libra Libra Libra is a yet-to-be-released cryptocurrency proposed by Facebook, Inc., that will aim to serve as a global payment system and a stable financial infrastructure that people across the world can use. The projected release date of the libra cryptocurrency is currently slated for 2020, while the project is currently being managed by the Libra Association.Headquartered from Geneva, Switzerland, the Libra Association main purpose is founded on three pillars.This includes the provision of a framework of governance oversight for the Libra network and Libra reserve, overseeing active operations and longevity of the Libra payment system, and facilitating the flow of services of the Libra Blockchain.The Libra Association is overseen by the Libra Association Council.This is comprised of organizations from the technology, telecommunication, payment, blockchain, venture capital, and nonprofit sectors.The creators of the coin are Morgan Beller, who initially started working on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology at Facebook in 2017, David Marcus, and Kevin Weil. Before the announcement of the Libra cryptocurrency on June 18th, 2019, Facebook had been considering coining the digital currency GlobalCoin or Facebook Coin.Will Libra Ever Launch? Facebook has expressed multiple times that they will not launch the Libra cryptocurrency until all regulatory matters have been met.Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has since assured lawmakers that Libra would not launch without first acquiring approval from United States regulators. Past participants of the Libra Association who left in October of 2019 include PayPal, eBay, Book Holdings, Mercado Pago, Visa, Stripe, and MasterCard. It should be noted that the source code for Libra is written in Rust that is open-source through the Apache License. What’s unique about Libra is that it will not depend upon cryptocurrency mining while only members of the Libra Association will be in a position to validate and process transactions. Facebook plans to launch a digital wallet known as Calibra in 2020, which will serve as an avenue for acquiring Libra along with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Libra is a yet-to-be-released cryptocurrency proposed by Facebook, Inc., that will aim to serve as a global payment system and a stable financial infrastructure that people across the world can use. The projected release date of the libra cryptocurrency is currently slated for 2020, while the project is currently being managed by the Libra Association.Headquartered from Geneva, Switzerland, the Libra Association main purpose is founded on three pillars.This includes the provision of a framework of governance oversight for the Libra network and Libra reserve, overseeing active operations and longevity of the Libra payment system, and facilitating the flow of services of the Libra Blockchain.The Libra Association is overseen by the Libra Association Council.This is comprised of organizations from the technology, telecommunication, payment, blockchain, venture capital, and nonprofit sectors.The creators of the coin are Morgan Beller, who initially started working on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology at Facebook in 2017, David Marcus, and Kevin Weil. Before the announcement of the Libra cryptocurrency on June 18th, 2019, Facebook had been considering coining the digital currency GlobalCoin or Facebook Coin.Will Libra Ever Launch? Facebook has expressed multiple times that they will not launch the Libra cryptocurrency until all regulatory matters have been met.Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has since assured lawmakers that Libra would not launch without first acquiring approval from United States regulators. Past participants of the Libra Association who left in October of 2019 include PayPal, eBay, Book Holdings, Mercado Pago, Visa, Stripe, and MasterCard. It should be noted that the source code for Libra is written in Rust that is open-source through the Apache License. What’s unique about Libra is that it will not depend upon cryptocurrency mining while only members of the Libra Association will be in a position to validate and process transactions. Facebook plans to launch a digital wallet known as Calibra in 2020, which will serve as an avenue for acquiring Libra along with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Read this Term
The PBoC reportedly initiated the development process in 2014. However, it suddenly accelerated its pace in mid-2019 after the announcement of Facebook’s Libra.
“Previously, [the central bank] was in no hurry doing this. Recently, all [of] a sudden, they accelerated,” several sources told the local publication.
Along with China, central banks of other countries are also planning to launch a digital currency. Most recently, the Bank of France's governor announced the bank’s plan to launch a digital currency by next year.