115. “数字人民币”即将到来！

China Aims to Launch the World’s First Official Digital Currency

Central banks have had a busy pandemic. Along with injecting vast amounts of money into the financial system, they have cleaned vast amounts of it—literally. From America to South Korea, central banks have quarantined and disinfected potentially contaminated banknotes.

疫情的爆发让各国央行都变得忙碌起来。除了要向金融系统注入大量资金外，他们还要大量地洗钱（是真的洗）。从美国到韩国，各国央行都对可能被污染的钞票进行了隔离与消毒。

This hassle should make them all the more interested in a digital-currency pilot now under way in China. If successful, it could change how central banks manage both liquidity and physical cash.

这件麻烦事应该会让他们对中国正在进行试点的数字货币更感兴趣了。如果数字货币真的可行，那么它或将改变央行管理流动资产和实体货币的方式。

China began exploring the concept in 2014 because of the technological upheaval in its financial system. A decade ago it was cash-dominated; last year mobile transactions reached 347trn yuan ($49trn), accounting for four of every five payments.

基于金融体系的技术变革，中国从2014年开始探索数字货币的概念。十年前，现金占据着主导地位；但在去年，移动支付的交易额已达347万亿人民币（约合49万亿美元），每5笔交易中就有4笔是移动支付。

Given the risks inherent to such a transformation, China will phase in the CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currencies) very gradually. Citic Securities estimates that it will take several years for the digital yuan to replace just about 10% of all physical cash in China. For now central banks must continue to worry about money-laundering—both illegal and antiviral.

考虑到货币转换本身存在的风险，中国将会逐步推进央行数字货币。据中信证券（Citic Securities）估计，在中国，数字人民币尚需数年时间才能替代10％的实物货币。目前，各国央行尚需为洗钱而感到烦扰（包括对抗非法洗钱以及为防止病毒传播而对钞票进行消毒）。