China has upgraded its digital yuan infrastructure to support a wider range of payment and financial services, unveiling an upgraded central bank system and a smart contract services framework. The E-CNY Operation Management Center of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) announced them at the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2026 in Beijing, aiming to lower operating costs and expand the currency's use. The integrated system covers issuance management, retail and wholesale payments, blockchain and smart contracts, serving everything from everyday payments to trade financing and settlements. Following the digital yuan's shift on January 1, 2026 toward a form of digital deposit money, cumulative transactions reached 4.3 billion by the end of September, worth about 31 trillion yuan (about 4.61 trillion U.S. dollars). In September alone, there were 99.67 million transactions worth about 1.87 trillion yuan, up 12 percent and 123 percent year on year, respectively.
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