Where is the development space of digital RMB
Our reporter Yao Jin
A review of government work reports in 2021 found that digital currency has become a high-frequency word.
Beijing has proposed that it will accelerate the construction of financial technology and professional service innovation demonstration zones and promote the pilot application of digital currency.
Guangdong, Shanghai and other places have also proposed to create a digital currency innovation pilot zone and promote digital yuan pilot projects.
Why do many places arrange digital RMB pilot applications?
What are the advantages and characteristics of the local pilot digital RMB?
Since Shenzhen first launched the digital RMB red envelope test, during the Spring Festival, Suzhou, Beijing and other cities have also launched a lottery to issue digital RMB red envelopes. my country's digital RMB application testing has continued to accelerate and digital RMB consumption scenarios have become more abundant.
What is the digital renminbi?
Where is the next step for the development of digital RMB?
In this regard, a reporter from the Economic Daily interviewed industry experts and scholars.
Digitization of RMB
Simply put, digital renminbi is a digital form of legal tender, which is the digital version of renminbi banknotes in our hands.
Compared with digital tokens such as Bitcoin, the most critical difference between legal digital currency is that it has national credit endorsement and the currency value is stable.
my country's digital renminbi is issued by the People's Bank of China, which is legal tender in digital form, with value characteristics and legal compensation.
Digital renminbi is equivalent to banknotes and coins. Anything that paper money can buy can be bought with digital renminbi; digital renminbi can also be exchanged for foreign currencies that can be exchanged for paper money.
Many people feel that digital renminbi, WeChat Pay, and Alipay all use mobile payments and have similar functions, so they will form a competitive relationship.
In this regard, Mu Changchun, director of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People’s Bank of China, once explained that WeChat Pay, Alipay and digital RMB are not in the same dimension. WeChat Pay and Alipay are financial infrastructures and “wallets”; while digital RMB is a payment tool. Is the content of the "wallet".
After the digital renminbi is issued, consumers can still use WeChat and Alipay to pay, but the content in the "wallet" adds the digital currency of the People's Bank of China.
Mu Changchun said that with the increasing popularity of mobile payments, the central bank needs to promote the payment system to keep pace with the times and launch digital legal tender through top-level design.
The digital renminbi is only the "digitalization of the renminbi", rather than seeking alternative payment methods.
At present, the application scenarios of digital renminbi have expanded from offline scenarios such as supermarkets and gas stations to "offline + online", and the use of digital renminbi has expanded from single payment to multiple payment methods such as scan code payment and "touch". It can be used without internet.
In addition, the People's Bank of China will not charge any transaction fees to individuals and operating institutions whether it is using digital renminbi offline or online. While improving the efficiency of the payment system, it can greatly reduce transaction costs.
The pilot effect exceeded expectations
Since the second half of last year, the pilot test of digital renminbi for the public has gradually accelerated.
The digital renminbi will first conduct internal closed pilot tests in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiong'an, Chengdu and future Winter Olympic scenes.
Since October last year, digital renminbi has launched multiple rounds of public testing in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Beijing and other places, and subsequent pilot cities may continue to expand.
"From the perspective of the pilot situation, the digital renminbi consumer payment is convenient, the payment efficiency is high, the operation is stable, the application scenarios are continuously expanded, and the public accepts a high degree. It can be said that the digital renminbi pilot has achieved the expected results. From the perspective of currency development and evolution, the digital currency has a low With the characteristics of cost, high efficiency, and rich application scenarios, the digital renminbi is expected to become the trend of renminbi development. In addition, the domestic online payment technology is relatively mature, and the conditions for the promotion of digital renminbi pilot projects are good. All these have stimulated the enthusiasm of pilot digital renminbi in various places. Said Zhou Maohua, an analyst at the Financial Markets Department of Everbright Bank.
What are the advantages and characteristics of pilot digital RMB in these places?
Pan Helin, Executive Dean of the Institute of Digital Economy, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, believes that from the perspective of infrastructure conditions, the financial infrastructure and other required hardware conditions in these places are more in line, and besides Xiong’an, other Electronic payment in all cities is relatively developed, and the acceptance by the masses and the popularity of smart phones are also relatively high.
At the same time, the financial activities and trade activities in these areas are relatively developed, and they are more suitable as pilots to discover problems and make corrections in time.
"Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong are located in the three economically developed regions of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta region, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, respectively. The location leading and driving effect is obvious, and they are the'highlands' for the development of traditional industries. Digital transformation has given birth to a variety of new business formats, new models, and new scenarios. The digital economy is large in scale and strong in development. It has gathered a large number of Internet companies. The development of the digital industry has a sound foundation and it has advantages in conducting digital RMB trials." Said Song Siyuan, assistant researcher at the Data Center of the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Commerce.
Song Siyuan said that, for example, Beijing, in combination with its financial technology and other advantageous industries, can expand the application of digital renminbi pilot projects, create a fully open digital financial development ecology, and promote the deep integration of digital finance and the real economy; Shanghai is an important global player Financial centers and international metropolises, with a number of functional and headquarters-based institutions, are also important international consumer centers. The total retail sales of consumer goods ranks first in the country. The city has a superior business environment. The promotion of digital RMB pilots can provide a wealth of digital RMB Scenario application: Guangdong has always been a frontier of innovation and development, and its highly developed commercial and foreign trade industries provide good conditions for the development of digital RMB pilot projects.
In addition, relying on Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center and an important offshore RMB center, the pilot program of digital RMB in Guangdong will help promote the internationalization of the RMB.
Development space needs to be expanded
Regarding the future development of digital renminbi, Pan Helin believes that, first of all, the role of digital renminbi will be more important in the daily consumption scenes of ordinary people, and people's reliance on paper money and Internet payments will also decrease.
Secondly, the digital renminbi must be "issued" and "used". How the digital renminbi can be officially issued more safely, and the stability and efficiency of the issuance structure need to be further verified.
Finally, the related hardware and software facilities of digital renminbi also need to be further popularized, especially for merchants. This is also the key to increasing the enthusiasm and frequency of using digital renminbi.
"To better promote the digital RMB pilot application, first, we should continue to expand urban pilots, popularize related concepts, and cultivate residents' trust in legal digital currencies. Second, promote the integration with the C-end (consumer market), such as last year's digital RMB Zeng joined Meituan and Didi to conduct trials to make the digital renminbi not only a supplement to banknotes, but also to make it more useful. The third is to accelerate the closed test. The closed test is necessary before the final application, which is conducive to timely discovery. Problems and problem-solving. At the same time, it is also necessary to speed up research on related digital technologies such as blockchain and big data, and provide technical support for the application of digital renminbi." Pan Helin said.
Zhou Maohua said that in the future, as the digital renminbi is gradually rolled out and technology continues to mature, application scenarios will expand from the consumer sector to the financial investment sector.
With the development of cross-border e-commerce, my country will gradually cooperate with overseas economies to establish relevant legal system arrangements and coordination mechanisms, improve relevant financial infrastructure, laws, etc., and promote the extensive use of digital RMB in cross-border payment and settlement, investment and financing, etc. Application and circulation, and the formation of a digital renminbi return mechanism, will also help speed up the process of renminbi internationalization.