Special commentator Zhang Jingwei

China has ushered in the national two sessions season, and it is time for global focus. There are many hot spots in the two sessions. Digital economy, especially digital finance, is still the focus of attention from all walks of life. After the application of the whole scene of the Winter Olympic Games and the winter Paralympic Games, the discussion of digital RMB has a new connotation. If last year’s two sessions talked more about application scenarios, this year’s two sessions will go deep into the level of rule of law.

In the proposal of the two sessions submitted this year, the Central Committee of the Democratic National Construction Committee suggested that the digital RMB system should be further improved. Improve the legislation of digital currency and severely crack down on crimes committed in the name of digital currency; At the same time, we should also speed up the innovation of digital currency data storage technology and establish a digital RMB data storage system. In the proposal, the Central Committee of the democratic construction of the people’s Republic of China proposed to effectively crack down on the copying, forgery and embezzlement of digital RMB, clearly divide the responsibilities of relevant regulatory departments and strengthen the responsibilities of regulatory subjects. (according to the financial Associated Press)

Other representatives and members will participate in the discussion and will also gather the voice of public opinion. Leveraging the strength of the two sessions is a “brainstorming”. We should not only expand the use flow of digital RMB, but also improve the connotation of the rule of law of digital RMB, but also plug the wings of globalization into digital RMB and contribute to the global settlement system.

The use of digital RMB has changed from “online fashion” to daily life. By the end of last year, the central bank data showed that there were more than 8.0851 million digital RMB pilot scenarios, 261 million personal wallets were opened, and the transaction amount was 87.565 billion yuan. In particular, the full scene use of digital RMB in the Beijing Winter Olympic Games has enabled global athletes to have a better experience of digital RMB. Their wonderful experience of digital RMB will also spread to the world and enhance the global soft power of digital RMB. Every athlete is the spokesman of digital RMB.

When virtual currencies such as bitcoin are notorious or even notorious in the global market through “mining” and speculation, the digital RMB under the supervision of the central bank not only corrects the name of digital currency, but also provides regulatory experience to the global central bank. Digital currency has too many advantages, but if it is lost, it will not only consume a lot of energy, but also become a cancer of capital, which will grow savagely, erode the existing financial regulatory order and bring systemic financial risks. Without use, it is meaningless and out of control without supervision. Digital RMB has become a global model in terms of use scenarios and orderly supervision.

The application scenario of digital RMB is upgrading. On January 4, the digital RMB app (pilot version) was officially launched, marking that the exploration of digital RMB will enter a new stage of development. Moreover, both Android and apple IOS systems support digital RMB app download. The app not only optimizes the interface, but also realizes the function upgrade, adding system level face recognition login and verification, money receipt voice, auxiliary verification methods, etc. This means that the digital RMB app perfectly connects with the familiar electronic payment mode, forming a “zero barrier” integration of digital currency and mobile payment. The concern of digital RMB for people’s payment psychology and behavior habits reflects the people-oriented intention and dedication of digital RMB in scene use.

The application scenarios of digital RMB are expanding. We will further deepen the pilot use of digital RMB in retail transactions, living payment, government services and other scenarios, and put the R & D pilot of digital RMB into serving the real economy and people’s life, so that more enterprises and individuals can feel the value of digital RMB and fully stimulate the enthusiasm of all parties in the industry. Predictably, the digital RMB is not far from the pilot area to the whole country. The improvement of digital currency legislation and other institutional suggestions and measures put forward by representatives and members of the two sessions this year will help the stability and long-term development of the RMB.

Digital RMB is not only good at internal skills, but also full of vigilance to the external market.

Recently, the West removed some Russian banks from the international settlement network global banking financial Telecommunications Association (Swift), reflecting the Western monopoly and dollar hegemony of the international settlement system. From Syria, North Korea, Iran to Russia, Swift’s neutrality has been damaged repeatedly - seeking new alternatives is on the agenda, which is particularly urgent for China. On the one hand, Hong Kong, China was threatened to eliminate the swift settlement system in July 2020. On the other hand, China is under the superimposed pressure of more trade wars, science and technology wars and financial wars. The analysis shows that digital RMB has the possibility to replace swift. In addition to simplifying the certification process, reducing intermediate links, low transaction cost and high efficiency, it can also avoid the interference of Finance and trade from the political level through digital means.

In terms of the use scenarios and effective supervision of digital RMB, China is at the forefront of the world. Digital RMB can contribute to the construction of a new global financial system infrastructure - truly realizing the neutrality of the international settlement system. This is not a new start for China, but to create swift backup, or to break the financial monopoly of the West and the US dollar hegemony by forming new alternatives, and realize the benign competition of international settlement through the traditional settlement system and digital RMB.

China is also an important part of swift. Among the 25 board members, there is also one Chinese. According to the swift report, in December 2021, in the ranking of payment amount in major currencies, the US dollar, euro and Sterling ranked the top three with 40.51%, 36.65% and 5.89% respectively. The proportion of RMB rose to 2.7%, becoming the fourth largest active currency in the world, and the proportion of Japanese yen fell to 2.58%, falling one place from the fourth to the fifth largest active currency in the world. In addition, China also has future oriented innovation cooperation with swift. Therefore, using digital RMB or building a global digital currency union - such as joining the m-cbdc bridge research project of multilateral central banks, will only make the “information flow” of global settlement smoother, more efficient, safer and fairer, and avoid becoming a “financial bomb” of power hegemony.

Based on the results of China’s second largest economy in the world, the largest trade in goods, the world’s investment attraction, the largest country in foreign exchange reserves and the internationalization of RMB, swift dare not easily “start” on China - seeking new international settlement alternatives through digital RMB, which shows China’s great power responsibility.

To achieve this goal, in addition to the incremental use of digital RMB, the improvement of the rule of law and technological upgrading, it also needs the people’s support