In June 2026, the Digital RMB International Operation Center completed the core business structure upgrade, integrating and iterating the three independent business platforms of the original cross-border digital payment platform, blockchain service platform, and digital asset platform into “Cross-border e-CNY Transfer”
Services (CBETS) cross-border settlement comprehensive service platform, and signed direct participant service agreements with the first batch of 26 domestic and foreign financial institutions in Shanghai on June 16, marking the transition of digital RMB cross-border infrastructure from pilot exploration to large-scale commercial use.
1. Upgrade background: from decentralized layout to integrated integration
The Digital RMB International Operation Center will officially operate in Shanghai Lingang New Area in September 2025. In the initial stage, the three major platforms will operate independently, respectively responsible for cross-border payment, blockchain cross-chain services, and compliant digital asset transfer functions.
With the adjustment of the digital RMB measurement framework in 2026 (from M0 cash type to M1 deposit type, current interest is calculated on wallet balances, and included in the deposit reserve system), as well as the need to upgrade the overall structure of cross-border infrastructure, the original decentralized platform model has been unable to adapt to the requirements of large-scale expansion of cross-border business, and integration and upgrading to an integrated comprehensive service platform has become an inevitable choice.
Schematic diagram of the core architecture of the “Shubida” cross-border settlement comprehensive service platform
2. “Shubida” core capabilities: three major advantages to solve the pain points of cross-border payments
Compared with traditional cross-border payments that rely on the SWIFT system, need to go through multiple layers of agent banks, have a settlement cycle of 3-5 working days, and have high costs, “Shubida” has three core advantages:
1. Double optimization of efficiency and cost: Adopt a componentized and modular architecture to integrate retail and wholesale, on-chain and off-chain payment, clearing and settlement services to achieve “payment and settlement”, with transaction delays reduced to hundreds of milliseconds, and settlement costs reduced by about 50% on average; it supports overseas participants to access through Hong Kong access points at one point, without the need for multiple connections to local systems, significantly reducing access costs.
2. Strong technical compatibility: The technical route is compatible with both centralized systems and blockchain systems, and settlement liquidity is managed in a unified manner; the message standard is compatible with ISO20022, which facilitates connection with the internal systems of commercial banks, and can cover off-chain and on-chain trade financial information transmission and payment services.
3. Flexible scenario expansion: It supports cross-border consumption scenarios such as barcode payment and “touch and touch”, and can also handle remittances, trade settlements, investment and financing settlements and other businesses. It also provides digital innovative business support for financial institutions, and can quickly iterate functions according to the needs of participating institutions.
3. The first batch of participants landed: building a cross-border service collaboration network
The 26 direct participants in this contract cover 8 countries and regions including Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Laos, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Brazil, including overseas branches of Chinese banks and foreign-funded institutions such as ICBC (Asia), BOC Hong Kong, Standard Chartered China, and Bank of Communications Brazil Branch.
As a direct participant, institutions can achieve direct connection with the platform system and independently carry out all types of digital RMB cross-border clearing, fund transfer, trade settlement and other businesses without going through transit channels. At the same time, they can rely on the platform’s standardized transfer services to avoid the development costs of repeated docking with multiple local systems.
Signing ceremony of the first batch of institutions participating in the “Shubida” platform
4. Application implementation results: empowering entities in cross-border economic and trade
At present, “Shucoin” has been implemented in multiple scenarios for verification:
- Cross-border electricity settlement: In April 2026, China Southern Power Grid relied on the platform to collect payments for cross-border electricity sales in Laos in digital renminbi, eliminating the need for an intermediary agency bank and shortening the settlement cycle from the traditional three working days to less than five hours.
- Cross-border e-commerce payment collection: Yiwu merchants can use the platform to quickly collect cross-border e-commerce trade payments from Lao customers, open up the flow of funds and information, and realize the traceability of the entire process.
- Smart contract performance: Launch of smart enterprise order payment service. After the trading parties confirm the order online, the payment process can be automatically triggered to solve the cumbersome problem of multi-party docking between banks and enterprises.
5. Future planning: continue to improve the cross-border ecology
The Digital RMB International Operation Center stated that in the future, it will rely on Shanghai’s location advantages to continue to promote the expansion of participants and attract more qualified commercial banks, financial infrastructure and payment service providers to join; at the same time, it will deepen interconnection with cross-border financial infrastructure such as the multilateral central bank digital currency bridge (mBridge), expand cross-border circulation of digital assets, cross-border investment and financing and other complex scenarios, facilitate cross-border trade and investment and financing, and promote the process of RMB internationalization.
