Guangdong, China: Plans to Expand Digital Yuan Application Scenarios, Promote Pilot Expansion Including Cross-Border Digital Yuan Payments

TechFlow news, August 6, the "15th Five-Year" Development Plan for China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone (Draft for Comments) was open for public consultation. It mentioned plans to orderly expand financial opening-up. International financial institutions are encouraged to establish headquarters within the zone, promoting the development of business formats such as cross-border finance, innovative finance, venture capital and private equity, wealth management, futures trading, asset management, specialized finance, and offshore services. Projects such as the Greater Bay Area International Commercial Bank and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Insurance Service Center will be accelerated. Support will be given to expanding the scale of commodity trading, promoting futures-spot linkage for key varieties such as iron ore, crude oil, and rubber, and enhancing influence over commodity pricing. Fintech regulatory pilots will be upgraded, expanding application scenarios for the digital yuan. Cross-border financial innovation businesses such as offshore finance and green finance are supported, promoting the expansion of pilots such as Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect and cross-border digital yuan payments. Financial institutions within the zone are supported to develop specialized products such as cross-border supply chain finance and intellectual property pledge financing, guiding market entities to develop composite financial products. Pilots such as cross-border credit asset transfer and multi-currency integrated accounts will be deepened, promoting mutual recognition and interoperability of cross-border financial products on a larger scale. (Jin10)