TechFlow News, March 27: According to Caixin, Zhou Xiaochuan, former governor of the People’s Bank of China, spoke at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2026 yesterday, stating that a good payment system is not defined by excelling in a single technology or a specific performance metric—just as instant payment does not automatically equate to “good.” The most critical factor, he emphasized, is “fit”—that is, alignment with user needs and real-world requirements. He noted that regulation must focus on anti-money laundering (AML) efforts to prevent drug trafficking, cross-border gambling, telecom fraud, and other illicit activities. Several central bank governors attending the forum remarked that while digital currencies are now being used in payment systems, fraudsters are also leveraging digital currencies—and “quite aggressively.” Zhou stressed that anti-fraud capabilities still require continuous enhancement.
On the topic of regulatory fit, Zhou again addressed stablecoins. He explained that proceeds from telecom fraud are often instantly split across hundreds or even thousands of accounts upon receipt, evading compliance checks—making post-facto recovery of losses extremely difficult. “Stablecoins fundamentally bypass compliance reviews; everyone needs to think this through carefully and avoid following trends blindly,” he cautioned. Zhou further emphasized that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies are topics worthy of discussion—but this does not mean that concepts such as “peer-to-peer” or “decentralization” are inherently positive. Nor should one hastily conclude that traditional back-end systems relying on correspondent banks and SWIFT messages are outdated. What matters most is how well the system fits users’ actual experiences.
