The cross-border application of digital renminbi has ushered in a new scenario undertaking entity.
On the eve of the opening of the 2026 Lujiazui Forum, Shanghai Cross-Border Trade Digital Financial Services Co., Ltd. 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.
The “cross-border trade” and “digital finance” in the name of Shanghai Cross-border Digital Finance Company form two main lines.
Shanghai promotes the establishment of the company, which will 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 a digital RMB cross-border trade service system.
In the past period of time, the promotion of cross-border application of digital renminbi was mainly reflected in infrastructure construction, bank pilots and specific business cases.
In June 2025, Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People’s Bank of China, announced at the Lujiazui Forum that a digital renminbi international operation center would be established in Shanghai; on September 24, 2025, the digital renminbi international operation center was officially operational and launched three major business platforms: a digital renminbi cross-border digital payment platform, a digital renminbi blockchain service platform, and a digital asset platform.
Subsequently, the institutional framework of the digital renminbi itself has also been adjusted. From January 1, 2026, the digital renminbi will move from the cash-type version 1.0 to the deposit currency version 2.0. The digital renminbi in commercial bank wallets will be clarified as an account-based commercial bank liability. The balance of the real-name wallet can calculate interest and be included in the scope of deposit insurance.
When Shanghai Cross-border Digital Finance Company was established, the digital renminbi had entered the 2.0 stage.
The Digital RMB International Operation Center provides cross-border infrastructure. The deposit currency digital RMB strengthens the connection foundation with bank accounts, trade financing, fund management and compliance review. Shanghai Cross-Border Digital Finance Company continues to push these capabilities into import and export trade scenarios.
Cross-border payment In the trade scenario, the completion of a single payment is just the beginning.
For export companies, cross-border payment involves orders, contracts, logistics, customs declarations, invoices, receipt confirmation, capital repatriation, foreign exchange settlement or RMB retention arrangements; for import companies, cross-border payment also involves payment timing, exchange rate risks, financing arrangements, trade authenticity materials and fund use instructions.
For banks, payment service institutions and related platforms, customer identification, transaction review, abnormal monitoring, compliance traces and follow-up services are also important components of cross-border trade payments.
After the digital renminbi enters the 2.0 stage, payment settlement in cross-border trade scenarios will further go beyond the wallet payment experience itself and connect bank accounts, fund management, trade financing and compliance review.
For enterprises, whether the digital renminbi can be connected with trade data, corporate identity, fund usage and financing services will directly affect the actual use perception.
Shanghai Cross-Border Digital Finance Company adopts the combination of “Shanghai International Group + Shanghai Data Group”, which is also related to the complexity of this scenario.
Shanghai International Group has the attributes of a financial state-owned assets platform, and Shanghai Data Group has corresponding data resources, data governance and digital service capabilities.
The two parties jointly initiated the establishment of a cross-border digital financial company, which shows that digital financial services for cross-border trade cannot be completed by adding a payment interface, but also require the support of financial resources, trade scenarios, data capabilities and compliance services.
Public information mentioned that in the next step, the Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission will promote municipal state-owned enterprises to leverage their comprehensive advantages in trade scenarios, data resources, financial services and other fields, improve the cross-border financial service system, and enhance global resource allocation capabilities.
The cross-border application of digital renminbi has not only stopped at the level of payment availability, but has begun to extend to service capabilities in real trade processes.
In fact, Shanghai has an early foundation in digital renminbi cross-border payments.
The Shanghai Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange previously disclosed that as of the end of May 2025, Shanghai had completed nearly 8 billion yuan of digital RMB cross-border payment business through the Currency Bridge, covering application scenarios such as trade in goods, trade in services, FTN account remittances, cross-border capital pools, and capital account dividends.
On a larger scale, as of the end of November 2025, the multilateral central bank digital currency bridge has processed a total of 4,047 cross-border payment businesses, with a cumulative transaction amount equivalent to RMB 387.2 billion, of which digital RMB accounts for approximately 95.3% of the transaction volume in various currencies.
The establishment of Shanghai Cross-border Digital Finance Company is to continue to centralize the early pilot, financial infrastructure and trade scenarios into a corporate platform.
For the cross-border payment industry, Shanghai Cross-border Digital Finance Company is closer to service organizations and scenario undertaking platforms. It does not directly replace banks, non-bank payment institutions or existing clearing networks. It is more likely to form synergies with banks, trade platforms, data service agencies, clearing infrastructure and regulatory services in the future.
In the past, cross-border payment institutions competed more around collection coverage, arrival efficiency, exchange rate quotations, fee levels, account services and local clearing capabilities.
As the digital renminbi enters the import and export trade scene, industry evaluation standards will continue to extend to scene services.
The scope of concern of enterprises no longer stops at the arrival of funds, but also includes whether collection and payment can be more smoothly connected with orders, customs declaration, financing, settlement, and compliance review.
Digital RMB 2.0 incorporates commercial bank wallets, deposit attributes, interest calculation arrangements and security guarantees into a clearer institutional framework, and will also raise the cross-border payment industry’s requirements for trade data, compliance review, bank collaboration and local currency settlement services.
If the digital renminbi only appears as a new payment method on the corporate side, the actual perception may be limited.
If digital renminbi can provide practical convenience in payment confirmation, fund allocation, material verification, compliance traces, etc., and cooperate with trade finance, supply chain finance, and cross-border settlement services, the willingness of enterprises to use it will be further enhanced.
Shanghai is undertaking the exploration of the application of digital renminbi in cross-border trade scenarios through a corporatized platform.
From the formal operation of the Digital RMB International Operation Center, to the launch of the Digital RMB 2.0 institutional framework, to the establishment of the Shanghai Cross-Border Digital Finance Company, the cross-border application of Digital RMB is entering more specific trade scenarios.
The infrastructure has been advanced, the attributes of bank accounts and deposits have been further clarified, and collection, payment, financing and compliance management in import and export trade have begun to become important directions for subsequent advancement.
Whether digital RMB cross-border payment can enter more import and export trade processes and form sustainable service capabilities in collection, payment, financing and compliance management will determine the subsequent industrial value of this platform.
