Recently, Luohu District facilitated a cross-border trade payment of 68 million yuan using the mBridge platform. This marks the first large-value cross-border settlement in digital RMB by a key supply chain enterprise in Shenzhen, a major step in applying digital RMB to international trade.

Breaking new ground in cross-border payment

Unlike the SWIFT system, which usually takes one to three working days, this settlement was completed in real time on mBridge, a multi-central bank digital currency platform jointly developed by the Digital Currency Institute of the PBOC and several overseas central banks. Powered by blockchain technology, the platform enables instant settlement, zero transaction fees, and full traceability.

For businesses, it not only reduces foreign exchange costs but also improves capital turnover efficiency. This is more than a technical upgrade—it is a powerful tool for optimizing financial structures.

The mBridge platform is a joint initiative by the BIS Innovation Hub (Hong Kong), the Digital Currency Institute of the PBOC, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Bank of Thailand, and the Central Bank of the UAE.

It leverages distributed ledger technology to enable interoperability among multiple central bank digital currencies and eliminates the need for traditional correspondent banking. This shift makes cross-border payments faster, safer, more transparent, and more cost-effective.

Luohu building a digital RMB innovation hub

Luohu has long been at the forefront of digital RMB innovation. From launching the country’s first digital RMB red envelope in 2020 to introducing supportive policies, building demonstration zones, and piloting hardware wallet services, the district continues to serve as a testing ground for financial reform.

Today, Luohu is accelerating the integration of digital RMB into cross-border payments, supply chain finance, and consumer finance, and is expanding applications to sectors such as healthcare and elderly care. The district plans to develop a digital finance industrial cluster worth hundreds of billions of yuan, with a dedicated digital RMB industrial park at its core.