Recently, on the eve of the opening of the 2026 Lujiazui Forum, Shanghai Cross-border Trade Digital Financial Services Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Shanghai Cross-border Digital Financial Services Company”) was established in Shanghai on June 11.
The company has a registered capital of 500 million yuan and was jointly established by Shanghai International Group Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Data Group Co., Ltd., of which Shanghai International Group invested 400 million yuan and is the company’s controlling shareholder.
Shanghai International Group Co., Ltd. is a wholly state-owned enterprise in Shanghai. As an important state-owned capital investment and operation platform in Shanghai, its core business covers financial holdings, state-owned capital operations and investment management. It holds equity interests in many key financial institutions such as Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Guotai Junan, and China Pacific Insurance.
Under the support and guidance of the People’s Bank of China, the “Shanghai Cross-Border Digital Finance Company” will closely rely on the national financial infrastructure function of the Digital RMB International Operation Center, focus on my country’s import and export trade scenarios, promote the implementation of digital RMB in cross-border payment settlement, investment and financing and other business scenarios, and help build an efficient, intelligent, compliant, and interoperable digital RMB cross-border trade service system.
On September 24, 2025, the “Digital RMB International Operation Center” officially landed in Shanghai, injecting new impetus into the construction of Shanghai as an international financial center.
The center is mainly responsible for building and operating digital renminbi cross-border and blockchain infrastructure, promoting cross-border interconnection with domestic and overseas financial infrastructure, promoting the international operation of digital renminbi and financial market business development, and serving digital financial innovation.
It is reported that the center has launched three major business platforms: the digital RMB cross-border digital payment platform explores the use of central bank digital currency to solve the pain points in traditional cross-border payments and promotes the formation of a “lossless, interoperable and compliant” new cross-border payment ecosystem; the digital RMB blockchain service
The service platform provides standardized cross-chain transaction information transfer and on-chain digital RMB payment services for blockchains in various scenarios and industries; the digital asset platform can support the issuance, registration, custody and trading of compliant digital assets on the chain, and realize the value transfer of compliant digital assets on the same platform.
Member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Executive Deputy Mayor once said that relevant departments in Shanghai must fully rely on the business platform to continuously expand the application scenarios of digital renminbi, expand the scope of use, and help improve the level of renminbi internationalization.
It is hoped that the Digital RMB International Operation Center will continue to strengthen technological innovation and application, continuously improve the security, stability and convenience of the business platform, and provide solid technical support for promoting the deep integration of finance and the real economy.
In March this year, the relevant person in charge stated that the Shanghai headquarters of the People’s Bank of China will also actively cooperate with the Digital RMB International Operation Center to carry out various businesses.
The establishment of the “Shanghai Cross-border Digital Finance Company” is, on the one hand, the key to Shanghai’s relevant departments implementing the “center” function and leveraging its capabilities to promote cross-border payment applications. It means that the company will become an important carrier and operating platform for the cross-border application of digital renminbi.
On the other hand, it also reflects Shanghai’s determination to promote the application of digital renminbi in cross-border payments.
The establishment of Shanghai Cross-border Digital Finance Company will further consolidate the foundation of my country’s cross-border financial services, better serve enterprises in “going out” and jointly building the “Belt and Road”, and effectively improve the level of cross-border payment and investment and financing facilitation.
From a policy perspective, Shanghai’s basic direction is to promote the application of digital renminbi in cross-border business scenarios.
On September 25, 2025, Shanghai passed relevant regulations to support the pilot free trade zone in carrying out digital RMB pilot applications; on June 2, 2026, Shanghai issued relevant opinions mentioning the need to explore a cross-border RMB settlement mechanism; on June 10, seven departments jointly issued measures to clearly support the expansion of innovative applications of digital RMB in cross-border payments and other scenarios.
Judging from the actual application results, the effect is also obvious.
According to relevant data, the volume of digital RMB cross-border payment business completed through the Currency Bridge in 2025 will increase 6.9 times year-on-year. The action plan issued by Shanghai has completed cross-border payments of more than 8 billion yuan.
The establishment of “Shanghai Cross-border Digital Finance Company” will further accelerate the implementation of cross-border payment applications of digital renminbi and gradually build a digital renminbi cross-border financial infrastructure system.
According to the plan of Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the next step will be to promote municipal state-owned enterprises to give full play to their comprehensive advantages and improve the cross-border financial service system.
At the same time, International Group will support Shanghai Cross-Border Digital Finance Company to improve its corporate governance mechanism and operation management system and promote the implementation of business scenarios.
Overall, the establishment of the “Shanghai Cross-Border Digital Finance Company” is an important milestone in the cross-border application of digital renminbi. It provides a professional operating platform and institutional guarantee for the practical application of digital renminbi in cross-border trade, and will effectively promote the in-depth connection between China’s digital financial system and the international financial market.
