Chongqing — In a move that could reshape inland China’s cross-border finance, China Construction Bank (CCB)’s Chongqing branch confirmed it has executed the city’s first China–Singapore bilateral digital RMB (e-CNY) settlement. This deal is being hailed as a milestone in Chongqing’s ambition to become a financial gateway for inland trade.
At a municipal press conference held recently, Wang Jun, Deputy President of CCB Chongqing, described the transaction as “a litmus test” for the city’s new “one system, one platform” infrastructure. He said: “We used the e-CNY channel to settle a cross-border payment directly between Chongqing and Singapore, bypassing intervening systems. It proves the technology can work in practice, not just on paper.”
Beyond the headline settlement, the framework is designed to streamline workflows: blockchain-verified single documents, unified digital credit checks, and automated settlement logic. Officials aim to reduce the typical paperwork, compliance delays, and manual cost layers in international trade.
The press conference included commentary from other stakeholders. Wen Jiangyong, a deputy head of the Chongqing Branch of the People's Bank of China, said the system will “integrate trade, logistics and capital flows in one loop” using a combination of big data and blockchain, enabling instant verification of trade authenticity. Meanwhile, Wang Shanli of the Chongqing Municipal Government Port and Logistics Office underscored the practical development: “We have already deployed 11 blockchain applications — digital bills of lading, inspection certificates, and so on — covering more than 1,100 enterprises and over 420,000 documents on chain.”
This aerial photo taken on Feb. 25, 2023, shows an automatic container terminal at Qinzhou Port in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo/Xinhua)
For its part, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Chongqing Branch has rolled out backend pipelines to embed document checks and credit scoring into client onboarding, helping exporters obtain quick financing. Meanwhile, CCB’s Singapore arm worked in tandem to execute both outbound and inbound e-CNY flows.
Looking forward, local officials plan to open 15 core service scenarios across the platform in the coming months and extend the system’s reach across the “13+2” provinces along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor. They seek to turn Chongqing from a logistics hub into a regional financial nerve center through coordinated data sharing and regulatory harmonization.