Kina har taget endnu et skridt hen imod etablering af en digital yuan. Kina er foran alle andre lande i etablering af en digital valuta. Det nye skridt er taget med en aftale med betalingssystemet SWIFT, der har lavet et joint venture selskab med den kinesiske centralbanks forskningsinstitut. Kina har sit eget betalingssystem, CIPS, som betyder, at kinesiske internationale betalinger ikke automatisk er synlige for USA (SWIFT er baseret i Belgien, men er reelt styret af USA). Aftalen mellem SWIFT og Kina siger dog intet om, hvorvidt Kina vil opgive sit eget system, CIPS. Tværtimod kan aftalen snarere styrke Kinas bestræbelser på at have et finanssystem, herunder med en digital valuta, der er helt uafhængigt af USA.
SWIFT sets up JV with China’s central bank
Other shareholders of the Beijing-based venture include China’s Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) and the Payment & Clearing Association of China, both supervised by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), according to public information.
The new entity, called Finance Gateway Information Services Co, was established in Beijing on Jan. 16, and its business scope includes information system integration, data processing and technological consultancy, according to the website of the National Enterprise Credit Information Public System.
China is a front-runner in the global race to launch central bank digital currencies, having launched domestic trials in several major cities including Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hangzhou.
Its digital currency will help increase oversight of money flows, while also raising the efficiency of cross-border payments and facilitate yuan internationalization, HSBC said in a recent report. China’s cross-border payment system CIPS both partners and competes with SWIFT amid growing Sino-U.S. tensions.
Greater use of the CIPS instead of the Belgium-based SWIFT system would reduce exposure of China’s global payments data to the United States, BOC International (BOCI) said in a report last July.
