The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has unveiled The Action Plan for Further Strengthening the Digital Yuan Management Service System and Related Financial Infrastructure Construction (the “Action Plan”) (《关于进一步加强数字人民币管理服务体系和相关金融基础设施建设的行动方案》), which took effect on 1 January 2026.
The Action Plan lays down a new generation of digital yuan measurement framework, management system, operational mechanism and ecosystem.
Based on announcements by The State Council of the People’s Republic of China and various news agency reports, key take-aways compiled from the Action Plan are as follows:
1. Transition from digital cash to digital deposit currency
The Action Plan marks the transition of digital yuan from the digital cash era (数字现金时代) to the digital deposit currency era (数字存款货币时代).
This builds on experience accumulated from extensive domestic and cross-border trials of adopting digital yuan across a wide range of daily uses.
The digital yuan pilot programme covered use cases in retail transactions, dining, tourism, education, healthcare, public services and cross-border settlements.
The pilot established a reliable and scalable model for digital currency in both online and offline scenarios. As of the end of November 2025, China recorded 3.48 billion cumulative digital yuan transactions worth 16.7 trillion yuan (approximately USD2.37 trillion).
2. Objective of the upgraded framework
The enhanced system aims at providing technical support and regulatory framework for future development of digital yuan.
The new generation digital yuan will be account-based bank deposit liabilities of commercial banks – protected by deposit insurance and compatible with distributed ledger technology.
Issued within the financial system and commonly used as digital payment currency, it will be valuated and stored as a currency and perform cross-border payment and settlement.
The account system + coin string/chain + smart contract (账户体系+币串+智能合约) digitalisation plan aims at upgrading the existing bank account system, incorporating digital yuan wallets with emerging technology applications.
The objective is to:
- Enhance digitalisation of RMB issuance, circulation, payment and other smart initiatives
- Upgrade the digital yuan smart contract service platform and ecosystem to support construction of an open-source smart contract ecosystem
3. Cash-based digital currency 1.0 to deposit-based digital currency 2.0 (数字人民币现金型1.0版 → 存款货币型2.0版)
The Action Plan establishes the operational basis for classifying digital yuan held in commercial bank wallets as bank deposit liabilities.
Under the enhanced system, commercial banks are required to pay interest on real-name digital yuan wallet balances in accordance with deposit rate regulations. These balances are integrated into the regular asset-liability management practices of banks and protected by deposit insurance, in the same way as ordinary bank deposits.
4. Reserve requirement
Digital yuan operations are subject to the reserve requirement framework of the PBOC.
Wallet balances held by authorised commercial banks will be counted in the reserve requirement calculation, while non-bank payment institutions must deposit 100% reserves against the digital yuan under their management.
5. Digital yuan governance
To achieve the set objectives, it is crucial to maintain a stable and secure environment with an ongoing risk management framework.
On regulatory and management, the PBOC has established the Digital Yuan Management Committee (数字人民币管理委员会) to coordinate and supervise the relevant business lines collectively.
On implementation, operational security and continuity, a “two-wing” structure supporting domestic and international dual circulation is put in place. Under the management of the Digital Currency Research Institute (数字货币研究所), the Digital Yuan Operations Management Centre (数字人民币运营管理中心) and the Digital Yuan International Operations Centre (数字人民币国际运营中心) will be respectively responsible for the construction, operation and security safeguarding of the central bank’s digital yuan system and cross-border business system.
For further information, please contact:
Sara S. M. Or, Partner, Johnson Stokes & Master
sara.or@jsm.com
Sources:
China to enhance digital yuan management with deposit features starting 2026
央行：新一代数字人民币运行机制将于2026年1月1日正式启动实施–经济·科技–人民网 https://finance.people.com.cn/n1/2025/1229/c1004-40634653.html
2026年起数字人民币钱包余额可计息（政策速递）http://gs.people.com.cn/BIG5/n2/2025/1231/c183342-41459775.html
