China Targets 3.48B Digital Yuan Transactions by 2026, PBOC Confirms Plan
The People's Bank of China (PBoC), the country's central bank, has given the green light to a new plan to accelerate the development...
Quick overview
- The People's Bank of China has approved a new plan to enhance the development of the digital yuan, set to launch on January 1, 2026.
- The plan aims to standardize the issuance of the digital yuan and strengthen the payment system while maintaining tight control by the PBoC.
- Digital yuan adoption has surged, with 3.48 billion transactions and over 230 million individual wallets reported by November 2025.
- New oversight measures are being implemented to ensure smooth operations and curb speculation in virtual currencies.
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the country’s central bank, has given the green light to a new plan to accelerate the development of China’s digital currency, reinforcing China’s position as a global leader in CBDCs. The “Action Plan on Further Strengthening Digital RMB Management Service System” will kick off on January 1, 2026. The plan is to issue the digital yuan in a more standardised way, strengthen the payment system, and get the country’s financial infrastructure back on track.
Deputy Governor Lu Lei made it clear that the PBoC will keep tight control over the digital yuan – even as commercial banks handle the consumer-facing aspects. All this comes on the back of years of research that began way back in 2014, with the launch of those initial pilot programs testing digital payments for both in- and out-of-country transactions.
The Growth and Usage of Digital Yuan
As you can see, digital yuan adoption has really taken off :
- Transactions: 3.48 billion – that number was up to November 2025.
- Cumulative value: an impressive 16.7 trillion yuan.
- Individual wallets: over 230 million were in use.
- Institutional wallets: 19 million were all set up.
🚨 BREAKING
CHINA IS TURNING ON INTEREST PAYMENTS FOR THE DIGITAL YUAN.
STARTING JANUARY 1, 2026, BANKS WILL PAY YIELD ON eCNY TO BOOST ADOPTION.
THIS IS A MASSIVE POLICY SHIFT.
IS CRYPTO ALLOWANCE IN CHINA COMING? 👀 pic.twitter.com/7L3uW94Wyb
— Wimar.X (@DefiWimar) December 29, 2025
You can transact using either online wallets or offline hardware wallets, which is good to know. It’s also worth noting that the Bridge platform has over 4,000 cross-border transactions totaling a whopping 387 billion yuan. However, the project did get scaled back a bit after concerns emerged about the risk of circumventing sanctions.
Now, in what looks like a pretty smart bit of planning, the revised plan still keeps a two-tier system in place: the PBoC sets the rules and technical standards, while the commercial banks handle wallets and customer service. And as a bonus, people will start earning interest on their digital yuan balances, which will give them more incentive to use it.
The Policy and Oversight Measures
As China presses ahead with the digital yuan, it is also tightening the rules. Some of the new measures that have been put in place include :
- The PBoC is now working hand in hand with other agencies to make sure everything runs smoothly.
- They’re also taking steps to curb speculation in virtual currencies.
- The idea is to get more wallets and payment networks set up to make the currency more accessible to everyone.
- And theyre also keeping a close eye on cross-border transactions to make sure theyre all playing by the rules.
This new plan shows just how committed China is to becoming a leader in the world of central bank digital currencies. And theyre going about it in a way that brings more stability to the financial system while also getting the country’s payment system up to date.
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