January 12, 2022
China's Digital Currency and Authoritarianism
China is the first major economy to develop and implement a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Its CBDC has many names: Digital Currency/Electronic Payment (DCEP), the digital yuan or renminbi, and electronic Chinese yuan (eCNY).
A new video explainer from CNAS explores how Beijing’s CBDC efforts will have critical ramifications for the Chinese Communist Party’s digital authoritarianism. As China is in a national blitz to digitize its entire economy, it is strengthening its hand for domestic social control while also influencing financial technology innovation in the global financial system.
To find out more about the ground truths of China’s CBDC, you can read the January 2021 CNAS report: China’s Digital Currency: Adding Financial Data to Digital Authoritarianism.
Learn More
Reports
China’s Digital Currency
China is pushing aggressively to be a global leader in financial technology....
Commentary
China Is Making Smart Money
As a U.S. national security matter, China’s progress in the digital renminbi is more about China’s ambition to harness data than it is about advancing its currency....
Congressional Testimony
The Promises and Perils of Central Bank Digital Currencies
Chairman Himes, Ranking Member Barr, the distinguished members of the subcommittee, and my fellow panelists, it is an honor to participate in today’s hearing. Please allow me ...
More from CNAS
-
CNAS Insights | Why the United States Needs Economic Coercion Doctrine
Commentary
Economic tools now sit at the center of U.S. global competition. Sanctions, export controls, investment restrictions, and financial measures are employed with a frequency and ...
By LtCol Mary Hossier
-
Commentary
Transatlantic Security / Energy, Economics & Security
Want to Stop Trump Bullying Your Country? RetaliateThis article was originally published in The Guardian. In February of last year, Donald Trump convened the first full cabinet meeting of his second term in the White House. He...
By Edward Fishman
-
Unpacking the Trump Administration’s Plans for Venezuela’s Oil Revenue
Commentary
This article was originally published in Lawfare. Since removing Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro from power, President Trump has made clear that he intends to “get the oil...
By Alex Zerden
-
Sanctions by the Numbers: 2025 Year in Review
Reports
This installment of Sanctions by the Numbers examines the United States’ use of financial sanctions and entity-based export controls...
By Eleanor Hume & Kyle Rutter
