The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) held a meeting today on digital currencies. The Beijing conference was attended by Zhou Xiaochuan, Governor of the PBoC, and Fan Yifei, Deputy Governor of the PBoC. Digital currency experts from Deloitte and Citibank, as well as other representatives from prominent financial institutions and regulatory bodies, were also in attendance.

According to the press release, the PBoC formed a research team in 2014 that was tasked with evaluating distributed ledger payment systems and their legal, financial and monetary implications.

The PBoC research team concluded that blockchain systems can bring about greater transparency and efficiency to China’s monetary and social systems:

“It can reduce the traditional distribution of digital currency note issue, the high cost of circulation, improve convenience and transparency of economic transactions and reduce money laundering, tax evasion and other criminal acts”

The meeting also revealed that the PBoC may be interested in launching its own digital currency with the aim of improving economic and social development, “Design of digital currency should be based on economic, convenience and safety principles”

The press release did not provide any additional details on when the PBoC digital currency will be launched.

Image credit: 1

Source: http://www.pbc.gov.cn/goutongjiaoliu/113456/113469/3008070/index.html

If you liked this article follow us on twitter @themerklenews