Six commercial banks allow customers to apply for virtual wallets. VCG
AI, 5G, cloud computing and other digital technologies are not only changing our lives but shaping the economy as well.
人工智能、第五代移动通信技术、云计算等数字技术不仅改变着我们的生活，也正在重塑经济。
China’s six major commercial banks are stepping up digital wallet efforts to provide new impetus for the e-CNY trials in the country, as reported by Shanghai Securities News on March 23.
据《上海证券报》3月23日报道，六大国有银行已经开始推广数字人民币货币钱包，数字人民币测试进程正在提速。
“The functions and properties of the e-CNY are exactly the same as those of the paper currency, except that the form is digital,” said Mu Changchun, head of the People’s Bank of China’s Digital Currency Research Institute.
“数字货币的功能和属性跟纸钞完全一样，只不过它的形态是数字化的。”中国人民银行数字货币研究所所长穆长春表示。
Many people are puzzled by e-CNY and electronic payments. “Digital currency has the characteristics of both paper money and electronic payment,” said Wu Qianhong, a professor at the School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Beihang University. “In theory, digital currency can replace paper money, Alipay and WeChat payments.”
很多人难以区分数字人民币和电子支付。“数字货币同时具有纸币和电子支付的特点”，北京航空航天大学电子信息工程学院教授伍前红表示，“理论上，数字货币可以取代纸币、支付宝和微信支付。”
Compared with Alipay and WeChat payments, e-CNY features anonymity and security. E-commerce platforms that accept payments via e-CNY will not have access to users’ personal information. E-CNY users can open an anonymous digital wallet by registering a mobile phone number, and telecom operators cannot disclose customer information to the central bank or any third-party institutions. Mu said that e-CNY users’ privacy protection is at the highest level among all the existing payment tools.
与支付宝和微信支付相比，数字人民币具有匿名性和安全性。接受数字人民币支付的电子商务平台将无法获取用户的个人信息。数字人民币用户可通过手机号注册开通匿名数字钱包，且电信运营商不能向央行或任何第三方机构披露客户信息。穆长春表示，数字人民币对用户隐私的保护，在现行支付工具中是等级最高的。
Similar to Alipay and WeChat payments, using e-CNY requires an account. After obtaining the other party’s account number, users can enter the amount of digital money to be transferred and then enter the payment password to complete the transaction. However, the processes behind these transfers are different. For electronic payments, the transfer has to go through a third party, and the receivers will get the transferred money only when they withdraw money from banks. But e-CNY transfers only need a payer and a receiver to complete a transaction. Therefore, it guarantees risk-free payments, according to Wu.
与支付宝、微信支付类似，使用数字人民币需要一个账户。用户获得对方的帐号后，可以输入要转账的数字货币金额，然后输入支付密码，完成交易。然而，这一转账操作背后的过程却有所不同。对于电子支付来说，转账必须经过第三方，收款人只有从银行提现才能得到转账款项。但是数字人民币转账只需要一个付款方和一个收款方就能完成交易。因此，伍前红表示，数字人民币不存在兑付的信用风险问题。
In simple terms, e-CNY can be considered “money”, while electronic payments are like “wallets”. “Since Alipay and WeChat Pay are payment channels, they can use e-CNY for payment after upgrading,” said Wu.
简单来说，数字人民币可以理解为“钱”，而电子支付就像“钱包”。“因为支付宝和微信支付都是支付渠道，它们升级后也可以支付数字货币，” 伍前红说道。
“The promotion of e-CNY is a gradual and inclusive process”, Cheng Shi, the chief economist and managing director of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China International, wrote in an article for China Daily.
工银国际首席经济学家、董事总经理程实在为《中国日报》撰文写道:“数字人民币的推广过程呈现出循序渐进、兼容并包的特征。”
