Digital Renminbi, Reshaping the New Path for Cross-Border Settlement for Hunan Enterprises

Source: Hunan Daily

Recently, the Changsha branch of Industrial Bank successfully completed a multilateral central bank digital currency bridge cross-border payment for a key foreign trade enterprise in Hunan, with an amount reaching 270 million yuan. This is the largest single transaction of its kind in the province to date and represents a critical breakthrough for the Hunan financial system in empowering the real economy with digital renminbi and enhancing the efficiency of cross-border settlements.

Currently, cross-border payments using digital renminbi are transitioning from pilot programs to large-scale applications, with the multilateral central bank digital currency bridge project covering multiple countries and regions, becoming an important tool to address the pain points of traditional cross-border payments and promote the internationalization of the renminbi. Many financial institutions in Hunan are accelerating their layouts, transitioning from scattered transactions to significant breakthroughs, with digital renminbi becoming the “new payment infrastructure” for high-quality development of Hunan’s export-oriented economy.

The “Three Mountains” of Cross-Border Payments

For Fengda Alloy Technology Co., Ltd. in the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, each cross-border remittance in the past has been a “waiting game.”

The company specializes in the processing of manganese series products, which are exported to multiple countries and regions, including Southeast Asia and Europe. However, the traditional agency’s cross-border payment model has been a source of frustration: the intermediary processes are cumbersome, with remittance arrival periods lasting 3 to 5 business days, significant handling fees, and the uncertainty brought by exchange rate fluctuations severely reducing capital turnover efficiency.

The “sea-going troubles” faced by enterprises are not isolated cases.

Hunan Yuchen International Trade Co., Ltd., primarily engaged in international trade of bulk commodities, considers time to be both cost and competitiveness. “From African mines to domestic ports, a sea shipment takes 30 to 40 days. The market waits for no one, and exchange rates fluctuate at any moment,” said the company’s head, Shangguan Feihe, on March 24.

In recent days, reporters have visited various enterprises, which generally reflect that the cross-border payment sector faces “three mountains”: high costs, slow efficiency, and lack of transparency. A cross-border payment from remittance to arrival often involves multiple intermediary banks, each charging varying fees, and the receiving bank usually also charges a fee upon arrival. After multiple fees are added, the actual amount received by enterprises is often less than the amount remitted, and the 3 to 5-day arrival period further complicates precise cash flow management for enterprises.

The “bottlenecks” of traditional cross-border payments are becoming barriers for Hunan’s foreign trade enterprises to “go out.” Against the backdrop of Hunan accelerating the construction of a reform and opening-up highland in the inland region, improving the efficiency of cross-border payments is not just a path for financial service innovation; it is also crucial for the competitiveness of Hunan enterprises in the global industrial chain.

(Staff from the Bank of China Lixian branch visited Hunan Mengheng Garment Accessories Co., Ltd. to understand the needs of the enterprise. This company provides stable supplies to numerous domestic and foreign clothing brands and manufacturers. Photo provided by correspondent.)

The Currency Bridge Opens Up the “Highway” for Cross-Border Payments

Faced with the multiple obstacles of traditional cross-border payments, Hunan financial institutions are using digital renminbi as a breakthrough to construct a “highway” for cross-border payments.

In March 2025, the People’s Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange will further expand the pilot program for integrated foreign and domestic currency funds for multinational corporations in Hunan and 16 other provinces and cities. The innovative platform jointly built by the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People’s Bank of China, the Bank for International Settlements (Hong Kong) Innovation Center, etc.—the multilateral central bank digital currency bridge project—has become a key tool for addressing the pain points of cross-border payments.

At the beginning of 2026, the Changsha branch of China Construction Bank successfully facilitated the first currency bridge digital renminbi cross-border remittance settlement for Fengda Alloy Company in Xiangxi. This service achieved real-time fund arrival without the need to pay intermediary bank fees or remittance fees.

“The currency bridge digital renminbi cross-border service launched by China Construction Bank has allowed us to truly experience the convenience brought by digital finance,” said the financial head of Fengda Alloy Company.

The 270 million yuan currency bridge cross-border payment service by Industrial Bank has pushed this innovation to a larger scale of application.

As the largest single transaction of a currency bridge cross-border payment in Hunan to date, this deal has validated the reliability and stability of the currency bridge in large cross-border payment scenarios. With its significant advantages of peer-to-peer transactions, real-time arrivals, and controllable costs, the currency bridge effectively reduces the time delays and associated fees of traditional agency models, greatly enhancing the efficiency of enterprise capital flow.

Beyond technological paths, Hunan financial institutions are also actively exploring more diversified innovations in digital renminbi cross-border payments.

For example, to address issues such as tight issuance times and high financing costs for letters of credit for non-trade, the Changsha branch of Zheshang Bank has launched an “express issuance” service, reducing the time for opening letters of credit from “days” to “minutes”—a national trade company in Changsha completed a letter of credit for a $20 million iron ore order in just 2 hours, avoiding the risk of default due to failure to issue within 5 business days.

(The technology finance product launch event for “ICBC Innovation Partner Bank” and the signing ceremony for the “investment-loan-guarantee linkage” of technology enterprises were held in Changsha. The Hunan branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has handled international settlement business exceeding 9 billion yuan for more than 40 African countries.)

Hunan Foreign Trade Enters a New Track in the “Digital Currency Era”

In Côte d’Ivoire, the five natural rubber processing plants of Meilan Group are operating at full capacity, contributing 35% of the country’s natural rubber production capacity. This company, headquartered in Hunan, has an annual trade volume of $10 billion, with products moving from African production sites to global markets, involving cross-border procurement, overseas processing, international settlements, and several other links.

The rapid implementation of cross-border payments using digital renminbi is injecting new momentum into export-oriented enterprises like Meilan Group.

Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, the Hunan financial system has continuously enhanced its capacity for cross-border financial services. The international settlement business of the Bank of China Hunan branch has exceeded $150 billion, with cross-border renminbi settlement amounting to nearly 220 billion yuan; the Export-Import Bank of China Hunan branch has issued over 200 billion yuan in “Belt and Road” loans, covering 41 countries; and the Bank of Communications Hunan branch has innovatively provided cross-border financing models, issuing a 20 million euro overseas loan to a German subsidiary of a Zhuzhou rail transit equipment company, with cumulative funding exceeding 770 billion yuan in Hunan…

With the ongoing deepening of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation, the demand for small currency trade settlements between Hunan and Africa is growing.

Industry experts point out that the application of digital renminbi cross-border payments, while enhancing payment efficiency, will also strengthen the pricing power of the renminbi in cross-border trade. Related experts from the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People’s Bank of China have indicated that the multilateral central bank digital currency bridge project is expected to provide more efficient, more inclusive, and lower-cost new solutions for global cross-border payments.

Hunan’s foreign trade is expected to accelerate its integration into global industrial chains, supply chains, and value chains, supported by more efficient, safer, and lower-cost payment infrastructure, running at an “accelerated speed” on the journey of building a reform and opening-up highland in the inland region. (Hunan Daily All Media Reporter Yu Miao, Correspondent Shang Yi)