Wang Xin, director of the People’s Bank of China research bureau, said that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the PBoC have conducted technical tests on China’s central bank digital currency’s cross-border use. According to the local news agency Sina Finance report, the official announced the news at a Thursday press conference hosted by the State Council Information Office of China.

PBoC’s digital currency research institute proposed a set of rules.

The news comes soon after Mu Changchun, head of the PBoC’s digital currency research institute, proposed a set of global CBDC rules last week. Speaking at a Bank for International Settlements seminar, Mu called on global financial institutions to ensure national digital currencies’ global interoperability. “Interoperability should be enabled between CBDC systems of different jurisdictions and exchange. The PBoC had shared the proposals with other central banks and monetary authorities,” the official said. Chinese central bank has been actively pursuing to move its CBDC expertise beyond its own jurisdiction.

PBoC joined several other countries to explore a cross-border CBDC. 

The latest news brings a significant update to China’s aggressive CBDC development. After launching internal digital yuan pilots in April 2020, the People’s Bank of China has been actively pursuing to move its CBDC expertise beyond its own jurisdiction. The central bank joined other central bank authorities in Hong Kong, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates to explore a cross-border CBDC in February this year. In late 2020, an official at the HKMA claimed that the regulator and the PBoC were at the preliminary stages of piloting the digital yuan for cross-border payments. Central banks in many countries are actively working on digital currencies, and many smaller economies have already launched central bank-backed digital currencies.