China Expands Digital Renminbi Banking Support, But Mainstream Adoption Remains Slower Than Expected

• China’s digital renminbi CBDC has expanded its banking support to over 20 institutions, but its adoption remains slow due to its low yields and broader market competition.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has expanded the digital renminbi’s banking support by 12 more institutions. China’s central bank has now authorized over 20 banks to align their products and services with the e-CNY retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CDBC).

Digital Renminbi Banking Expansion

Reuters cited three individuals familiar with the matter as its sources. They have requested anonymity because the Chinese government wouldn’t allow them to discuss the matter publicly.

The move extends the digital renminbi range to seven joint-stock banks and five commercial banks. Banks that joined the CBDC project include Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, China Everbright Bank, and Bank of Ningbo.

ADVERTISEMENTThe e-CNY’s advance comes hot on the heels of China’s polarizing policies on digital assets compared to the US. The Eastern superpower has notably pushed for retail CBDC amid its Western counterpart’s strict ban on such a virtual currency.

Meanwhile, mainland China has recently reiterated its prohibition on Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto trading and mining, crypto exchanges, and stablecoins. It also imposed a sweeping ban on real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, except for those from “competent business authorities” authorized by Chinese regulators.

Struggling Adoption

The PBOC launched the digital renminbi in 2019. However, Winston Ma, an adjunct law professor at New York University, claimed that the CBDC’s adoption has been significantly slower than market expectations.

ADVERTISEMENTMa revealed e-CNY “still hasn’t generated regular users” yet. Hence, he claimed “China is taking much bolder steps” to reinforce its mainstream adoption. Among them was an effort to curb potential competition from Bitcoin, stablecoins, RWA tokens, and other crypto assets. Additionally, the country has allowed for salary, tax, and government procurement payments in the same currency across select jurisdictions within the mainland.

Despite the hype that the digital renminbi offers yields paid for by the PBOC, the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) found that interest payments to holders have been at a very dismal rate. To date, the CBDC’s yield only mirrors the amount offered by regular bank deposits, which is a meager 0.05%.

As a result, The Straits Times noted that e-CNY’s transaction volume has remained a fraction of the figures reflected by super payment apps. As of November 2025, the digital renminbi accounted for only roughly 16.7 trillion yuan ($3.1 trillion), while WeChat Pay and Alipay cornered more than 90% of China’s mobile payments market.

Nonetheless, industry officials and analysts are confident that the digital renminbi could gain significant momentum in cross-border payments in the future, as the virtual currency presents itself as a major alternative to US-dollar-denominated transactions and a medium for payments among Western-sanctioned nations.

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