In contrast to the imminent launch of the Facebook Libra project, China’s central bank hastily proceeded to the next stage of the program to develop its own stablecock. This was stated by the Director of the Research Bureau of the People’s Bank of China (NBK).
"A digital currency issued by the central bank can improve the effectiveness of monetary policy and help optimize the payment system," he comments TechNode.
The NBK said that the state digital currency will be equal to money issued directly by the central bank.
So far, Chinese officials have officially announced that the issue of developing state cryptocurrency is under discussion. However, as TechNode writes, citing public information posted on the website of the State Intellectual Property Office of China, from June 2017 to March 2018, the central bank’s digital currency research laboratory filed more than 53 patents. These include services that allow interbank transactions using digital currency and a digital wallet. This may mean that the development of China's national cryptocurrency is already underway.
Earlier, Chinese officials expressed their concerns about the Libra project. Thus, Zhou Xiaochuan, the former chairman of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), said that the very concept of a global digital currency that can be exchanged for Fiat threatens existing payment systems and could weaken the position of national currencies.
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