Jiangsu universities plan digital yuan salary payments from November

Several universities in China's eastern province of Jiangsu plan to start paying salaries in digital yuan, or e-CNY, from November. The universities' finance departments announced the plans online, citing preliminary instructions from the provincial finance department. The move represents Beijing's latest effort to increase use of the state-backed currency and deepen its integration into China's financial system.

Nantong University issued a notice on Friday requiring affected employees to open or upgrade e-CNY wallets by this Friday, depending on existing salary accounts. Jiangsu Normal University published a similar notice on Friday. Jiangsu Normal University said the change followed national directives to expand digital yuan trials. Jiangsu Normal University said the change would simplify salary payments and protect funds. Yangzhou University announced plans on October 20 to pay salaries in e-CNY. Yangzhou University required affected employees to open or upgrade wallets by last Friday.

Beijing has promoted the digital yuan to update China's domestic payment system and increase the currency's role in cross-border transactions. Beijing also seeks to internationalise the yuan and lessen dependence on financial infrastructure dominated by the US dollar. China launched digital yuan pilots in late 2019, making China one of the earliest major economies to test a central bank digital currency at scale. Digital yuan applications have since broadened beyond retail purchases and salaries to government services, corporate settlements and cross-border transactions.

However, retail adoption has remained relatively slow because consumers in China already rely on established platforms, including Alipay and WeChat Pay. Those habits have made encouraging broader digital yuan use a challenge for Beijing. Ant Group operates Alipay and is affiliated with Alibaba Group Holding, the owner of the South China Morning Post. Tencent Holdings operates WeChat Pay.

Former central bank deputy governor Zhu Min argued in People's Daily on Wednesday that broader yuan use would support China's high-quality growth. Zhu said the yuan could also provide an alternative that helps stabilise the international financial system as geopolitical risks intensify. People's Daily is a Communist Party mouthpiece.

Eight banks joined the e-CNY network in August, including Ping An Bank, Bank of Shanghai and Bank of Hangzhou. In June, 26 financial institutions from China and overseas joined a cross-border digital yuan settlement platform covering markets including Thailand, Qatar and Brazil.

China substantially revised the digital yuan framework in January, moving the currency from digital cash toward digital deposit money. The revision allowed verified wallet balances to earn interest. The revision also placed those balances within banks' reserve requirement framework.