China to allow more banks to handle digital yuan, sources say

SHANGHAI/BEIJING, March 20 (Reuters) - China will allow a dozen additional banks to handle its digital yuan, three people with knowledge of the plans said, as Beijing pushes to accelerate use of the digital currency under a strategy that contrasts sharply with the U.S. approach.

The 12 new banks picked to promote the digital yuan by China's central bank will add to 10 currently authorised and include Shanghai Pudong Development Bank 600000.SS, China Everbright Bank 601818.SS and Bank of Ningbo 002142.SZ, according to the people.

They all requested anonymity as they are not allowed to discuss the matter publicly.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) declined to comment.

CRACKDOWN ON VIRTUAL CURRENCIES

The push to put the digital yuan into the real economy has been slow so far since its launch in 2019, with most retail customers already able to make safe and low-cost electronic transactions via platforms such as Alibaba's 9988.HK Alipay and Tencent Holdings' 0700.HK WeChat Pay.

But industry officials and analysts say applications could be broader for cross-border payments where the digital currency offers a way of settling trades outside the West's dollar-dominated financial architecture and its fixtures such as messaging network SWIFT.

It has also come alongside China's crackdown on virtual currencies and a ban on stablecoins that highlights the contrast to the U.S., where President Donald Trump has promoted cryptocurrencies and banned a digital dollar.

"The U.S. banned CBDCs to leave room for private issuance. China on the other hand is wiping out space for private issuers," said Robin Zhang, COO of Winfield Global Capital in Singapore.

Among the 12 new banks to be added to China's digital currency project, seven are joint-stock banks, according to the sources, and five are city commercial banks. It is not clear when they will be officially cleared to handle the digital yuan, or e-CNY.

Neither of the 12 banks responded to Reuters' requests for comment on Friday. The sources said the joint-stock banks in line for e-CNY approval include China Guangfa Bank, Huaxia Bank 600015.SS, China Minsheng Bank 600016.SS, China CITIC Bank 601998.SS and China Everbright Bank 601818.SS.

The news was first reported by Caixin.

Earlier on Friday, China's Bank of Ningbo 002142.SZ said it was inviting suppliers to help build a system to handle the digital yuan.

GLOBAL AMBITION ON DIGITAL CURRENCIES

Last year, the PBOC set up an operation centre in Shanghai to promote global use of the digital yuan and from January 1, it made holdings of the e-CNY interest-bearing to increase appeal.

As of last November, digital yuan transactions had notched a cumulative value of 16.7 trillion yuan ($2.4 trillion) since launch, compared with 128 trillion yuan in total payments transacted in 2025 alone.

"Its true importance lies in China's ambition to gradually advance the digital yuan from a domestic payment tool into a key component of cross-border settlement and regional monetary infrastructure," said HashKey Group researcher Tim Sun.

"This is not merely about payment efficiency; it also concerns the internationalisation of the RMB... and the establishment of a supplementary channel outside the U.S. dollar-dominated system."

($1 = 6.8821 Chinese yuan renminbi)