The People's Bank of China added eight commercial lenders to its digital yuan clearing system to boost coverage for small businesses and cross-border trade, the central bank announced on August 17, Xinhua.net reports.

This expansion underlines Beijing's commitment to modernising its domestic payments infrastructure while embedding state-backed digital currency deeper into regional trade and smaller business ecosystems.

Ping An Bank, Hengfeng Bank, China Bohai Bank, Bank of Shanghai, Bank of Hangzhou, Huishang Bank, Bank of Changsha, and Guangxi Beibu Gulf Bank joined the system. The new batch brings the total number of accredited digital yuan operators to 30. Each institution will roll out digital yuan services after completing technical integrations.

According to the central monetary authority, the inclusion of these institutions seeks to broaden access to the digital currency framework, answering consumer demand for safe, streamlined, and user-friendly transaction systems.

"The newly added institutions, comprising joint-stock commercial banks and city commercial banks, will fill service gaps in regional small and medium-sized enterprise and cross-border trade within the existing operator network," said Dong Ximiao, chief researcher at Merchants Union Consumer Finance Company Limited.

China started researching central bank digital currencies in 2014 before starting real-world trials in late 2019. The digital RMB is now used across retail, dining, travel, healthcare, utility payments, and foreign tourist transactions.

Beijing paused expanding its operator list for over two years after Industrial Bank became the 10th clearing member in 2022. The central bank resumed expansion in October 2025, before adding a batch of 12 lenders in April 2026 to bring city commercial banks into the system for the first time.

Monetary officials said the central bank will keep adding operators to build an open and competitive market for the digital yuan.