The People’s Bank of China issued the revised “Business Rules for the RMB Cross-border Payment System”, which will be officially implemented on February 1, 2026.
The rules clarify the requirements for CIPS account management, business processing, settlement mechanism, etc., cover participant management, risk management, emergency response, etc., and support the hybrid settlement model.
Soochow Securities previously released a research report stating that this provides a more complete institutional guarantee for cross-border RMB payments and financial market businesses.
On March 26, during the Boao Forum for Asia 2026 Annual Conference, at the sub-forum with the theme of “Building a Diversified Cross-border Payment System”, the topic of cross-border payments triggered heated discussions among many experts, scholars and representatives of financial institutions.
When presiding over the forum, Zhu Feng, chief economist of JP Morgan China, pointed out, “Cross-border payments have three goals: efficiency, cost reduction and security. Usually we can only achieve two goals, so how to achieve three goals together? It is difficult.”
Zhu Feng believes that for a long time, cross-border payments have relied on the agency bank model, with long chains, many intermediate links, and long settlement cycles, and the user experience is far less convenient than domestic payments.
This makes cross-border payments face many challenges in actual operations, such as long time for funds to arrive and high handling fees, which seriously affects the efficiency of cross-border trade and investment.
Dong Junfeng, Chairman of China UnionPay, shared three new features in the diversified cross-border payment system.
First, regional characteristics represented by “South-South Cooperation” are becoming increasingly prominent. Emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, South America, and Africa are cultivating local digital payment systems. The focus of cross-border payment reform is shifting from traditional developed markets to global southern markets.
This reflects the changes in the global economic landscape, with emerging markets gradually increasing their influence in cross-border payments.
Second, emerging technologies are closely integrated with cross-border payments, and the application of central bank digital currency, account-based networks, artificial intelligence and blockchain technology is accelerating.
The application of these new technologies is expected to solve some pain points in cross-border payments, such as improving payment efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing security.
Third, the participation of new infrastructure and the pattern of extensive interconnection are becoming increasingly clear, and the efficient connection of QR code payment, digital wallets and existing payment networks is becoming a reality.
This will bring a more convenient and efficient experience for cross-border payments.
Zhou Xiaochuan, Vice Chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and former Governor of the People’s Bank of China, emphasized that the core of a good cross-border payment system lies in the word “system”.
He said: “It’s a bit like I need a fully healthy person to work. It doesn’t mean that a single champion can run the entire system well.” This means that the cross-border payment system requires the coordination of all links to achieve efficient operation as a whole.
In short, cross-border payment is of great significance in the current context of global economic integration.
With the continuous improvement of relevant policies and the application of new technologies, cross-border payments are expected to achieve a better balance in terms of efficiency, cost and security, providing more powerful support for global trade and investment.
