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Nikita Veremeev
26.08.2020 | 6 min read
Updated: 15.10.2026
The e-CNY, or digital yuan, is issued by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) and has been piloted since the end of 2019. On 1 January 2026 it entered a new stage: e-CNY in commercial bank wallets became deposit money.
From pilot to deposit money
The PBoC’s 2021 white paper describes the e-CNY as legal tender in digital form. It lists Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiong’an, Chengdu and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics among the first pilot scenarios.
By the end of November 2025, the PBoC reported 3.48 billion e-CNY transactions worth 16.7 trillion yuan. About 230 million personal wallets had been opened through the e-CNY app.
Under a PBoC action plan in force since 1 January 2026, e-CNY in a commercial bank wallet is an account-based liability of that bank. Banks pay interest on real-name wallet balances, and deposit insurance covers them as it covers deposits.
How wallets work
The e-CNY runs on a two-tier model: the PBoC issues it, and authorised operators, mainly commercial banks, open wallets. Banks bear the related compliance and anti-money laundering duties.
Wallets are tiered by the strength of identity checks, with separate limits per payment, per day and on the balance. The lowest tier needs no identity data. Users can upgrade to a real-name wallet for higher limits.
This is the PBoC’s principle of controllable anonymity: small amounts stay anonymous, large ones are traceable under the law. The white paper adds that short-term visitors can open a wallet without a mainland bank account.
Cross-border use and mBridge
Project mBridge is a shared platform for cross-border payments in central bank digital currencies. Collaboration on it started in 2021 between the BIS Innovation Hub, the PBoC’s Digital Currency Institute, the HKMA, the Bank of Thailand and the UAE central bank. The Saudi Central Bank joined in 2024.
mBridge reached the minimum viable product stage in mid-2024. In October 2024 the BIS announced that it was handing the project over to its partners. By the end of November 2025, mBridge had processed 4,047 cross-border payments, and the e-CNY made up about 95.3% of their value.
In September 2025 an e-CNY international operations centre, run by the PBoC’s Digital Currency Institute, started work in Shanghai.
Legal basis
On 23 June 2026 the NPC Standing Committee began reviewing a revised law on the People’s Bank of China. The draft sets out the legal status of the digital yuan. It had not been adopted by mid-October 2026.
What it means for business
Legal entities and other organisations in China can open corporate wallets. Their limits depend on whether the wallet was opened at a bank counter or remotely.
For banks acting as operators, e-CNY wallet balances count towards the reserve requirement base. Non-bank payment institutions in e-CNY operations must hold a 100% e-CNY margin.
Summary
In bank wallets the e-CNY is now deposit money, and its legal basis is being updated. COREDO specialists follow these changes and can advise on payment regulation in China. Contact us to schedule a meeting.