Beijing Municipal Government Conference Notes Plans to Pilot CBDC in Nation’s Capital

Two Beijing-area regional bodies – the Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration and the Tongzhou District government – held a conference Monday that made note of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) Digital Currency Research Institute’s plan to build a legal digital currency test zone and digital financial system in China’s capital as part of the “China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone Overall Plan.”

While plans to test the digital yuan in Beijing were discussed in August, the talk at this regional-level conference indicates the pilot is being included in state-level planning, as noted in the policy document about the “pilot free trade zone” in Beijing and other cities.