China’s digital yuan used in securities trade for the first time

See related article: China digital currency transaction volume soars to nearly US$14B

Soochow Securities, a Chinese securities firm, enabled e-CNY payments on its mobile application on Monday, marking the first use case of the central bank digital currency in securities market trade, according to state-backed finance outlet China Securities Journal.

Fast facts

• Soochow Securities’ e-CNY payment function, which was launched in cooperation with the Bank of China, allows investors to purchase wealth management products with the digital yuan.

• The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, included the e-CNY in its M0 calculations — the total currency in circulation including bank reserves — from the end of 2022.

• There were about 13.61 billion yuan (US$2 billion) of e-CNY in circulation across pilot cities at the end of last year, which represented around 0.13% of the M0 supply at the time, the PBOC said on Jan. 11.

See related article: China’s digital yuan needs WeChat, Alipay to boost adoption, experts say