Anxiety As China Begins Major Trial of State-Run Digital Currency

Babajide Okeowo
Writer

Ad

$4.5bn: Court Admits More Evidence Against Emefiele

Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on October 9,2025, admitted more evidence against a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, in an alleged $4.5bn fraud. Emefiele is standing trial on a 19-count charge bordering on receiving gratification and corrupt demand preferred against him by…

NEITI Warns of Deepening Transparency Crisis, Says Nigeria Lost $3.3bn to Oil theft, Sabotage

By Obinna Uballa Nigeria lost an estimated 13.5 million barrels of crude oil valued at $3.3 billion to theft and pipeline sabotage between 2023 and 2024, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has revealed. Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Ogbonnaya Orji, disclosed this on Thursday at the 2025 Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria…

Oil Eases over 1.5% after Gaza ceasefire

Summary Israel and Hamas agree to Gaza ceasefire, return of hostages US oil product supplied highest since December 2022, EIA says Stalled peace talks in Ukraine underpin prices Oil prices edged slightly lower on Thursday after Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas signed an agreement to cease fire in Gaza. Brent crude futures were…

Ad

A move by China to become the first major economy to launch a digital currency, e-RMB is sending shock waves across the world.

The major cities of Shenzhen, Suzhou, and Chengdu, as well as the Xiong’an New Area, will host what China’s official state-run Xinhua News Agency described as ‘internal closed pilots’.

The three cities have a combined population of more than 38 million people while the Xiong’an New Area is a district and economic zone being developed by the government near the cap1ital Beijing.

China’s Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) project which is the country’s progress towards a digital yuan is known – began in 2014. Central banks around the world are assessing the feasibility of launching their digital currencies – so-called ‘central bank digital currencies’ (CBDCs). But China has regularly communicated tangible progress, as its central bank seeks to become the first to turn years of research and experimentation into reality.

According to a report by the state-owned China Daily, a statement by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC); China’s Central Bank said that the digital currency will not be issued in large amounts” for public use in the short term and that the digital currency in circulation would “not lead to an inflation surge”.

A sovereign digital currency provides a functional alternative to the dollar settlement system and blunts the impact of any sanctions or threats of exclusion both at a country and company level,” last week’s China Daily report said.

Some Government employees and public servants are to receive their salaries in the digital currency from May.

A decline in cash usage is expected to continue amid the growing popularity of digital payment platforms and as people avoid physical contact during the coronavirus pandemic.

It may also facilitate integration into globally traded currency markets with a reduced risk of politically inspired disruption.

Ad

Unlocking Opportunities in the Gulf of Guinea during UNGA80
X whatsapp