The former vice-chair of the People’s Bank of China’s Na­tional Coun­cil for So­cial Se­cu­rity Fund, Wang Zhong­min, announced that China has completed the backend architecture development of China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Wang made the announcement during the online 2020 Fin­tech Fo­rum organized by Ten­cent Fin­tech Re­search In­sti­tute and the Fin­tech 50 Fo­rum in Beijing.

With so many cryptocurrencies already in existence and in development, China is seeking to create a payment infrastructure in which these currencies can co-exist with sovereign digital currencies. Wang said that such a system will create an environment in the digital currency space for healthier competition and cooperation.

According to Wang, the epidemic has increased competition in the digital currency space with more tech giants and governments taking interest in creating a better digital payment infrastructure. He specifically noted the development of Libra, through which Facebook is trying social media-based digital wallets.

China’s CBDC in its testing phase

China’s CBDC is currently in its testing phase, Wang said during the forum. Cointelegraph earlier reported that the country has also started drafting laws that will help the launch and implementation of its digital currency.

Chinese technology and payments behemoths Alibaba, Tencent, Huawei, and China Merchants Bank are believed to be working with the People’s Bank of China in development and testing.

While everyone is still unsure of when China plans to officially release its digital currency, Ledger Vault’s head of the Asia-Pacific region Glenn Woo told Cointelegraph that the digital yuan will likely be the first state-backed virtual currency to launch worldwide.