China adds eight banks to digital yuan network, expanding operators to 30

The People's Bank of China has authorized eight additional commercial banks, including Ping An Bank and regional lenders, to operate its digital yuan (e-CNY) network, raising the total number of operators to 30. This expansion aligns with Beijing's 2026-2030 reform blueprint to steadily develop the digital currency. While cumulative transactions reached 16.7 trillion yuan ($2.3 trillion) by late 2025, the e-CNY faces slow retail adoption as Alipay and WeChat Pay maintain over 90% market share.

Digital yuan operator network expansion

• ▪The eight newly approved digital yuan operators are Ping An Bank, Hengfeng Bank, China Bohai Bank, Bank of Shanghai, Bank of Hangzhou, Huishang Bank, Bank of Changsha, and Guangxi Beibu Gulf Bank.
• ▪The People's Bank of China added eight commercial banks to its digital yuan network on August 17, 2026, bringing the total number of authorized operators to 30.
• ▪The August 2026 expansion follows an earlier round on April 2, 2026, when the People's Bank of China added 12 institutions, including China CITIC Bank, China Everbright Bank, and Hua Xia Bank, to the network.
• ▪Prior to the 2026 expansions, only 10 banking institutions were authorized digital yuan operators, with Industrial Bank being the last to join in 2022.
• ▪The newly approved banks will begin offering customer-facing digital yuan services after completing their respective business, technical, and operational preparations.

PBOC digital currency infrastructure strategy

• ▪Beginning January 1, 2026, the People's Bank of China allowed commercial banks to pay interest on verified digital yuan wallets under the same self-regulatory arrangements used for conventional deposits.
• ▪The People's Bank of China listed the steady development of the digital yuan in its 15th Five-Year Plan and its 2026-2030 reform blueprint published on August 10, 2026.
• ▪Under the central bank's supervision, commercial operators are responsible for customer identity verification, anti-money-laundering checks, and transaction monitoring.
• ▪The People's Bank of China operates the digital yuan under a two-tier structure where the central bank controls the underlying infrastructure and approved commercial institutions handle day-to-day user services.
• ▪Under the revised January 2026 framework, non-bank payment firms must maintain customer reserve funds in digital yuan at a 100% reserve ratio.

e-CNY transaction volume statistics

• ▪Alipay and WeChat Pay continue to dominate China's third-party mobile payments market, controlling more than 90% of the sector and slowing retail adoption of the digital yuan.
• ▪The cumulative value of digital yuan transactions reached 16.7 trillion yuan ($2.3 trillion) across approximately 3.48 billion transactions and 230 million personal wallets by late 2025.

Cross-border digital yuan trials

• ▪In July 2026, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China completed the first China-Singapore digital yuan payment, settling nearly 10 million yuan in import shipping costs on the same day.
• ▪The Cross-border e-CNY Transfer Services platform, an upgraded settlement platform managed by a Shanghai firm under central bank guidance, signed its first 26 direct participants by June 2026.
• ▪Guangdong province published a draft development plan in August 2026 proposing expanded cross-border digital yuan trials within the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone, with public consultation open until September 5, 2026.

Regional bank digital currency participation

• ▪The inclusion of regional lenders like Huishang Bank, Bank of Changsha, and Guangxi Beibu Gulf Bank is intended to expand digital yuan services to regional small and medium-sized enterprises.
• ▪Dong Ximiao, chief researcher at Merchants Union Consumer Finance, stated that adding regional operators helps fill service gaps for small and medium-sized enterprises and regional cross-border trade.

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