China’s ‘digital renminbi’ (e-CNY) as financial inclusion: the global frontier of central bank digital currencyChina’s ‘digital renminbi’ (e-CNY)

China has made significant progress in developing its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the ‘digital renminbi’ (e-CNY), racing out to the world lead. This article examines China’s motivations and goals in developing the e-CNY and how the central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), and its corporate partners have gone about successfully developing the e-CNY and its associated payments technology and e-infrastructure to pay for consumer, retail and service transactions, the wages of civil servants and bank staff, utilities bills, and company to company exchanges. Particular attention is given to why and how, amid the roll-out of the e-CNY pilot programs, the PBOC has directed the design and development of its CBDC toward supporting the financial inclusion of financially marginalized and vulnerable segments of Chinese society, specifically elderly citizens and inhabitants in remote rural areas, and the ‘unbanked’ in rural and urban areas.