February 03, 2021

Post-Pandemic Tourism Could Boost China’s New Digital Currency

China finds itself in a strong position to release its central bank digital currency, the eCNY, following successful trials. The completion of the eCNY trials coincides with the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine, and now that countries can ease travel restrictions and the hard-hit tourism industry can recover, China’s outbound tourism could become a catalyst for the global usage of the eCNY. This could become a defining moment for the internationalization of China’s currency, the renminbi, with a small chance of strengthening it enough to even begin challenging the U.S. dollar as the top global currency.

This could become a defining moment for the internationalization of China’s currency, the renminbi.

Since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, China has worked to increase the overseas usage of the renminbi, especially as a means of challenging the dollar’s dominant position in international trade and finance. Despite consistently promoting the renminbi, China has faced significant hurdles in internationalization, particularly because of its strict currency controls. Importantly, the trade financing of Asian supply chains remains mostly in dollars, comprising approximately 80 percent of Asian banks’ international activities in the third quarter of 2019.

Meanwhile, to bolster China’s already strong currency regulation, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC, China’s central bank) developed the eCNY. Due to the PBoC’s oversight of the eCNY, it has the power to both monitor macroeconomic trends and manage the renminbi more directly.

Read the full article from The National Interest.

  • Commentary
    • The Atlantic
    • February 24, 2025
    How America Wasted Its Most Powerful Economic Weapon

    As Donald Trump embarks on his much-anticipated peace negotiations, they will provide important leverage—Putin will be desperate to recover them, while Ukrainian President Vol...

    By Edward Fishman

  • Podcast
    • February 19, 2025
    Edward Fishman on the Age of Economic Warfare

    In the latest episode of the Sanctions Space Podcast, Justine is joined by Edward Fishman, author of Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare and an adjunct ...

    By Edward Fishman

  • Podcast
    • February 19, 2025
    What Have U.S. Sanctions on Russia Achieved Since the War in Ukraine Began?

    Three years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, what have U.S. sanctions achieved? NPR talks to Edward Fishman, author of "Chokepoints: American Power in the ...

    By Edward Fishman

  • Video
    • February 17, 2025
    Ziemba: Sanctions Enforcement on Russia To Ease Up

    Rachel Ziemba, an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), speaks with Bloomberg TV’s Joumanna Bercetche on the Horizons Middle East and Africa ...

    By Rachel Ziemba

View All Reports View All Articles & Multimedia