While the innovations in private digital currencies are leading to a decreased use of cash and a "currency decentralization," central banks in a number of countries are also working on central bank digital currencies (CBDC). As early as 2014，the People's Bank of China (PBOC) had already officially begun research on the feasibility of issuing a CBDC. In 2016，the PBOC established the Digital Currency Research Institute to undertake research and development of CBDC. Since the Libra White Paper was released in June 2019，the PBOC has been speaking out about plans for CBDC. The Chinese version of CBDC，temporarily named "DC/EP," is expected to be launched in the very near future. So far，it is being rolled out employing the principles of a two-tier issuance，a replacement of M0 money supply and "controlled" anonymity. It entails top-level design and standardization as well as research and development. Testing has largely been completed and a great number of pilot tests have been carried out. The testing phase has basically been completed.

The DC/EP being piloted in China is a retail CBDC issued to the public. Some countries are also studying and assessing the feasibility of issuing retail CBDC，but mainly to facilitate retail payments and promote inclusive finance. Some smaller countries have even issued CBDC already，but mostly for the purpose of seizing their own monetary sovereignty or curbing high inflation.

For China，the third-party retail payment market represented by Alipay and WeChat Pay has been developed to a large extent and the government-issued  currency is stable. There has been a considerable amount of debate over whether a digital currency is necessary in China. The author believes that the value is mainly seen in these areas:

Firstly，CBDC will strengthen macro management and control and improve the accuracy of capital investment. For starters，CBDC can effectively push interest rates down through their existing lower limit. After the retail CBDC is issued and it replaces the use of large amounts of cash，CBDC will probably apply negative interest rates，or charge a so-called "wallet custody" fee，which is essentially equivalent to a negative interest rate policy. As a result，there will no longer be a zero limit to interest rates，leaving more room for monetary policy adjustments.