Since the third quarter of this year, cross‑border payments in the digital yuan have chalked up one success after another. Relying on the Multi‑Central‑Bank Digital Currency Bridge (mBridge), cross‑border capital transfer efficiency has achieved a leap‑forward improvement with “second‑level arrival”. Meanwhile, the growing number of connected clients and enriched scenarios mark that the key channel for the digital yuan’s global expansion has officially moved from proof‑of‑concept to commercial‑scale roll‑out.

Soaring Efficiency:From Multi‑day Turnaround to Second‑level Direct Arrival

Traditional cross‑border payments require transit through multiple correspondent banks, taking an average of one to three working days, with high handling fees and opaque procedures. By contrast, mBridge enables point‑to‑point direct transactions between participating banks, bypassing cumbersome intermediate links. According to an insider at a large state‑owned bank, based on actual transaction statistics, a cross‑border payment processed on the mBridge platform can be completed in as fast as seven seconds, cutting overall costs by more than 50 percent.

In August 2025, China Merchants Bank handled a large‑sum cross‑border capital increase remittance for Beijing State‑owned Assets Management Co., Ltd. Via mBridge, the transaction became the first capital‑increase business for Beijing‑managed state‑owned enterprises settled entirely in digital yuan. No deductions were made by intermediary banks for the remittance, greatly reducing time and financial costs.

One year on, similar cases are emerging in batches. Postal Savings Bank of China Guangxi Branch completed a RMB 200‑million cross‑border goods‑trade remittance for a major paper‑making group, with funds arriving in eight seconds. China Construction Bank Inner Mongolia Branch processed RMB 415‑million cross‑border receipts for Mengniu Dairy, slashing the enterprise’s comprehensive cross‑border settlement costs to one‑third of the original level. In August this year, Industrial Bank rolled out mBridge‑based payment services for Macao in Guangzhou, while Ping An Bank Hangzhou successfully completed its first mBridge cross‑border remittance under the agency model.

“The launch of enterprise‑level and agency‑model businesses by Industrial Bank and Ping An Bank signals that joint‑stock banks are starting large‑scale access, instead of participation being limited to state‑owned large banks and pilot institutions,” Zeng Gang, President of Tianfu Liyan Finance Research Institute, told the Shanghai Securities News. This indicates that the mBridge channel has genuinely advanced from proof‑of‑concept to commercial‑scale application.

According to Mu Changchun, Director of the Digital Currency Institute of the People’s Bank of China, speaking at the Summer Davos Forum 2026, since mBridge entered the phase of continuous real‑transaction operation in June 2024, 49 commercial banks have taken the lead in participating, among which 21 are overseas foreign‑funded banks. By the end of 2025, the cumulative transaction volume on mBridge reached nearly RMB 500 billion in RMB equivalent.

Zeng Gang projects that mBridge will see “quantitative growth accompanied by qualitative change” and full‑speed development in the second half of this year. On one hand, more small‑ and medium‑sized banks, as well as scenarios including cross‑border e‑commerce and bulk commodity trade will be brought onboard. On the other hand, single‑transaction sizes will expand from retail pilots to bulk‑trade settlement.

Expanding Scenarios:From Large‑value Corporate Business to People‑livelihood Services

In the view of Liu Bin, Director of the Finance Research Office at the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Institute, the rising transaction volume on mBridge stems from meeting real client demands. Enterprises feel the efficiency gains most acutely, and this constitutes a key step for advancing cross‑scenario application of the digital yuan.

According to relevant officials from the International Business Department / Transaction Banking Department of Industrial Bank, as of end‑June, 38 branches of Industrial Bank had conducted mBridge businesses, with the number of served enterprises surging 176 percent year‑on‑year.

Following the launch of its Macao payment service, Industrial Bank also completed a RMB 500‑million cross‑border equity‑merger‑and‑acquisition capital transfer for an industrial park via mBridge, further expanding mBridge’s application in large‑value, complex RMB cross‑border transactions.

Under traditional models, such large‑value capital‑account fund transfers take an average of one to three working days. For major M&A deals, longer capital‑in‑transit time translates into greater transaction uncertainty and may even jeopardize closing progress. To address client concerns over the timeliness of M&A fund transfers, the bank set up a special service team and rolled out a tailor‑made mBridge service package, finishing cross‑border clearing and fund arrival within mere minutes.

Separately, Postal Savings Bank of China successfully processed a RMB 1.295‑billion cross‑border external‑debt repayment for an asset‑investment‑management firm in Jiangsu, verifying the safety and stability of digital‑yuan cross‑border payment in cross‑border debt‑repayment scenarios.

“Steady development of the digital yuan” has been incorporated into the 14th Five‑Year Reform and Development Plan of the People’s Bank of China. mBridge cross‑border transactions are expanding from large‑value corporate scenarios such as bulk‑commodity trade and cross‑border investment and financing toward people‑livelihood‑oriented use cases.

In July this year, Postal Savings Bank of China Beijing Branch launched an mBridge‑powered Macao payment service. Centered on cross‑border travel of residents on both sides, the bank used mBridge to pay transport‑card settlement funds to an enterprise in Macao, delivering a replicable template for meeting payment demands in people‑livelihood scenarios.

Twin Infrastructure Engines:mBridge and CBETS Operating in Complementary Parallel

In June this year, the Digital Yuan International Operation Center signed agreements with 26 direct participants. Leveraging the Cross‑Border Digital‑yuan Electronic Transfer System (CBETS), a comprehensive cross‑border settlement service platform, a new gateway for cross‑border digital payments has taken shape.

“Essentially, mBridge and CBETS constitute two complementary rather than competing infrastructures,” Zeng Gang explained. mBridge is a new‑type financial‑market infrastructure jointly built by central banks under a multilateral‑governance, win‑win framework with participation from financial institutions. CBETS establishes a bilateral cross‑border payment channel featuring ample flexibility and autonomy.

Liu Bin holds that this moderately forward‑looking, mutually complementary cross‑border infrastructure system enjoys first‑mover advantages globally and provides vital support for China to steadily develop the digital yuan. “In digital‑financial infrastructure, we have accomplished the crucial leap from zero to one. The next challenge lies in growing from one to ten and then to one hundred, building a complete ecosystem,” he noted.

Top‑level design is advancing in tandem. The Shanghai Headquarters of the People’s Bank of China recently clarified that it will push forward scenario‑based application and ecosystem building for the digital yuan. The Action Plan for Developing Offshore Finance under the Shanghai International Financial Center, released in June, proposes steadily fostering digital‑yuan adoption and scenario expansion in offshore businesses.

Liu Bin suggests further exploring central‑local cooperation mechanisms for the digital yuan. Taking Shanghai as an example, local financial institutions can explore more business models integrating mBridge with offshore‑finance scenarios such as FT accounts in light of local characteristics.

As previously outlined by Mu Changchun: mBridge supports multiple business types including customer remittances, financial‑institution remittances, and Payment versus Payment (PvP) foreign‑exchange settlement based on smart contracts and central‑bank money, covering cross‑border goods trade, service trade, investment‑financing, and e‑commerce settlement. It is developing business functions such as Delivery versus Payment (DvP) settlement for cross‑border compliant asset transactions and on‑chain letter‑of‑credit settlement. Serving as a core connection hub, the CBETS pivot delivers highly differentiated access modes. This not only minimizes redundant investment but also gives impetus to the realization of the vision of “one‑point access, connectivity across the whole network” characterized by low cost and high stability.

From second‑level trade settlement to minute‑scale completion of large‑value cross‑border capital flows, with CBETS and mBridge advancing side by side, the underlying infrastructure for the digital yuan’s global expansion is growing increasingly solid.

Source: Shanghai Securities News