By the end of 2025, the People's Bank of China will issue the "Action Plan for Further Strengthening the Management and Service System of Digital Renminbi and Related Financial Infrastructure," marking the official transition of digital renminbi from the "Digital Cash 1.0" era to the "Digital Deposit Currency 2.0" era.
The core change is that starting from January 1, 2026, the balance in digital renminbi wallets will begin to accrue interest, and its legal status will shift from a direct liability of the central bank to a legal currency with the attributes of a commercial bank liability.
Common Dilemmas of Global CBDCs and the Breakthrough of Digital Renminbi
Over 130 monetary authorities worldwide are exploring CBDC practices, generally falling into a difficult-to-reconcile paradox: how to launch digital currency while preventing it from undermining the foundations of the traditional banking system? The root of this concern lies in the vigilance against financial disintermediation—worrying that the central bank's direct provision of secure and convenient digital fiat currency to the public will lead to a loss of deposits in commercial banks, impacting their credit creation function.
Therefore, whether it is the European Central Bank's discussion on setting limits on the holding of the digital euro or the explicit warnings from the Bank of Japan, the underlying logic is defensive. They strictly limit retail CBDCs to non-interest-bearing digital cash (M0) to reduce their attractiveness to bank deposits and ensure financial stability. However, this often leads to a lack of user and bank-side incentives for CBDCs, resulting in a dilemma where functionality and goals diverge.
On this basis, the digital renminbi will become the world's first CBDC to pay interest on wallet balances for ordinary users. Digital Renminbi 2.0 reconstructs the monetary creditor-debtor relationship through institutional innovation, attempting to mitigate risks within the banking system and create new momentum. Its difference from other global retail CBDCs lies in:
This model transforms the digital renminbi from a potential "external circulation" tool that could impact banks into "internal blood" deeply integrated into the bank's balance sheet.
Commercial banks will have management and income rights over digital renminbi deposits, shifting their motivation from "passive compliance" to "active operation," forming a sustainable market-oriented promotion mechanism. At the same time, clear deposit insurance guarantees eliminate credit concerns on the user side.
This not only addresses the incentive issue but also means that the digital renminbi is officially incorporated into the traditional framework of currency creation and regulation, providing the central bank with a new policy variable (digital renminbi interest rate) that can be directly acted upon, while its traceability creates conditions for implementing precise structural monetary policy.
Defining a New Form: The "Hybrid" of CBDC and Tokenized Deposits
Digital Renminbi 2.0, due to its interest-bearing and bank-operated characteristics, is somewhat similar to tokenized deposits promoted by commercial banks. The latter are digital certificates of bank deposits on the blockchain (such as JPMorgan's JPM Coin), aimed at enhancing inter-institutional settlement efficiency. However, this similarity is merely superficial; there are essential differences in credit foundations and strategic levels between the two.
Digital Renminbi 2.0 actually creates a new hybrid form: it absorbs the efficiency appearance of tokenized deposits, but its core is the complete credit of a sovereign currency.
This distinction is crucial. The credit of tokenized deposits is deeply tied to the balance sheet of the issuing bank, essentially optimizing the efficiency tools of existing financial intermediaries. In contrast, the credit foundation of Digital Renminbi 2.0 remains the sovereign state, aiming to build foundational financial infrastructure to support the future digital economy.
A report from Tsinghua University's Financial Technology Research Institute also points out that this state-backed, programmable digital currency provides a core support point for constructing a "blockchain + digital assets" dual-platform model.
Therefore, the upgrade of Digital Renminbi 2.0 goes far beyond the evolution of payment tools; it lays a "settlement track" with the highest credit rating in advance for the upcoming era of large-scale asset tokenization.
The Empowerment of Interest-Bearing Digital Renminbi on Hong Kong's Digital Financial Ecosystem
The strategic elevation of digital renminbi has a particularly direct and profound impact on Hong Kong, which has unique geopolitical and institutional characteristics.
The key variable of interest-bearing fundamentally changes the nature of digital renminbi in cross-border and financial scenarios, evolving it from a "payment channel" to a "strategic asset," thereby providing substantial empowerment for Hong Kong to build an "International Digital Asset Center" on multiple levels.
First, interest-bearing resolves the motivation issue of cross-border fund retention, directly strengthening Hong Kong's offshore renminbi funding pool function.
In the cross-border payment network based on the Multilateral Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge (mBridge), non-interest-bearing digital currency is merely a medium of circulation, and enterprises are motivated to settle quickly to reduce capital occupation costs. After interest-bearing, the digital renminbi possesses competitive attributes with Hong Kong's offshore renminbi deposits. Multinational corporate treasury centers can use it as an interest-bearing liquidity management tool, allowing it to remain longer within Hong Kong's compliance framework.
Currently, the proportion of digital renminbi in mBridge transactions has exceeded 95%, and the interest-bearing policy is expected to convert this flow advantage into a stock advantage, helping to expand and deepen Hong Kong's offshore renminbi funding pool and solidify its hub position.
Second, interest-bearing enhances the credit attractiveness of digital renminbi as a currency for issuing and settling tokenized assets in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is vigorously promoting the tokenization of assets such as bonds. In such delivery versus payment (DvP) settlements, the credit rating of the settlement currency directly relates to the risk pricing and market acceptance of the product. The digital renminbi, which is interest-bearing and backed by national credit, has a credit rating far exceeding that of any single bank's tokenized deposits.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's Ensemble project has explored the interoperability of tokenized deposits, and Digital Renminbi 2.0 can serve as a higher-level settlement asset to access this ecosystem. Utilizing the programmability of digital renminbi, the processes for bond interest distribution or trade financing conditions can be automated, greatly enhancing efficiency and reducing operational risks.
This provides a potential and superior underlying financial infrastructure option for Hong Kong to issue high-end products such as tokenized government green bonds.
Third, interest-bearing activates the financial service innovation space around digital renminbi, bringing collaborative opportunities for Hong Kong's fintech.
As digital renminbi becomes a bank-operable and interest-bearing liability, deposit, wealth management, financing, and smart contract management services will emerge around it.
Hong Kong, with its common law system aligned with international standards and an active financial market, is an ideal "sandbox" for testing such innovative services. For example, a compliant gateway could be developed to connect digital renminbi wallets with virtual asset platforms, or structured wealth management products could be designed based on its interest-bearing characteristics.
This innovative synergy will enable Hong Kong to take the lead in product design and rule-making in digital finance.
Fourth, interest-bearing deepens the differentiated collaborative strategy between digital renminbi and Hong Kong's "Digital Hong Kong Dollar."
Hong Kong has clearly prioritized the development of a wholesale "Digital Hong Kong Dollar," focusing on large transactions between financial institutions and capital market applications. The interest-bearing Digital Renminbi 2.0 can primarily serve cross-border retail payments, trade settlements, and related derivative financial services closely connected to the real economy in mainland China.
The two are not substitutes but form a clear complementary pattern: the Digital Hong Kong Dollar optimizes local wholesale financial efficiency, while digital renminbi deepens cross-border economic connections. This collaboration allows Hong Kong to simultaneously strengthen its local financial infrastructure and cross-border bridge functions.
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