China has upgraded its digital yuan infrastructure to integrate a wider range of payment and financial services, unveiling an upgraded central bank system for the digital yuan and a framework for smart contract services aimed at lowering operating costs and expanding the currency's use.
The E-CNY Operation Management Center, established by the People's Bank of China (PBOC), announced the two developments on Wednesday at a parallel session on the digital yuan of the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2026 in Beijing.
The upgrade follows the digital yuan's transition to a new operating framework on Jan. 1, 2026, moving it beyond a cash-like digital payment instrument toward a form of digital deposit money, according to the central bank.
The upgraded system integrates issuance management, retail and wholesale payments, blockchain and smart contract services. It is designed to lower system integration and liquidity management costs, and support applications ranging from everyday payments to trade financing and financial settlements, a PBOC digital currency research official said.
The smart contract service framework is designed to promote the sharing and reuse of services and resources, and enable financial institutions to flexibly combine services to meet customer needs.
By the end of September this year, cumulative digital yuan transactions had reached 4.3 billion, with a total value of about 31 trillion yuan (about 4.61 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the latest figures.
In September, the number of transactions totaled 99.67 million, worth about 1.87 trillion yuan, up 12 percent and 123 percent year on year, respectively.
The PBOC began researching digital currency in 2014 and launched pilot programs in late 2019. The digital yuan has since been tested in areas including retail payments, public services and cross-border settlements.
"Leveraging the digital yuan smart contract ecosystem service platform, we have achieved 'zero-to-one' breakthroughs in areas such as targeted fiscal payments, supply chain finance, and prepaid fund supervision, and are now accelerating the promotion from 'one to N'. Furthermore, we see vast potential for the digital yuan to be applied in emerging fields like financial markets and offshore finance," said Liu Jun, president of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
The Financial Street Forum, launched in 2012 as a platform for global exchange and cooperation in finance, has grown into a major source of updates on China's financial policies, offering a window into the financial sector's priorities in the world's second-largest economy.
This year's annual conference runs from Monday to Thursday.
China upgrades digital yuan system to expand payment, smart contract services
