The Bank of China Hong Kong has successfully completed cross-border transactions worth approximately US$5.13 with its patent Bank of China. Xinhua Finance Hong Kong reported the success of the digital renminbi(RMB) cross-border transaction trial.
On December 13, the BOCHK reported that the pilot for local central bank digital currency (CBDC) cross-boundary transactions was a success. The bank launched an e-CNY cross-border transaction and successfully supported pilot companies in cross-border commodity trade worth RMB 24 million. This was the first time that digital RMB was used for cross-border settlement.
BOCHK reported that the transaction was completed with the help of its parent Bank of China. First, BOCHK set up a digital RMB wallet for Bao Yun Enterprise Co., Ltd. on its corporate internet banking platform iGTB NET Corporate to make it easier to conduct e-CNY transactions. Baoshen Iron and Steel Co., Ltd, a major customer of the Bank of China, set up a digital RMB wallet and then used the digital RMB to pay Bao Yun Enterprise for imported iron ore. This marks the first-ever cross-border bulk commodity transaction to use digital RMB.
Xing Guiwei, Vice President of BOCHK, stated that in addition to being used in personal cross-border transactions, digital RMB has the technical features and capability to be used in corporate digital cross-border payments. Furthermore, he added that not only will this reduce corporate cross-border settlement costs, but also improve transaction efficiency. He cited,
“The successful completion of this trial transaction has laid the foundation for the normalization of e-CNY usage among corporate customers trading between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, contributing to the development of an e-CNY ecosystem and further promoting RMB internationalization.”
Xing added that BOCHK will continue to enhance its corporate online banking function and support more corporate customers in using digital RMB for cross-border transactions. At the same time, explore a wider range of cross-border applications for digital RMB.
