China’s CBDC Registers Housing Aid Firsts
China's central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan, has found new usage cases in the fields of housing aid and public resource transactions. The Jiangsu Provincial Government Affairs Office has begun using the CBDC in 10 new "application scenarios," while banks and local authorities in Nanjing have begun the "integrated use of the digital yuan" in the mandatory mutual aid platform housing provident fund. Authorities have issued a set of guidelines that will allow market participants to learn how to use the CBDC in their housing provident fund operations, settlement, financing, and accounting. The digital yuan has been used in over 5,500 transactions, paying for settlements worth around $204 million. The CBDC is also being used to pay experts for state-run projects, settlement fees for state-owned property rights transactions, and state-owned assets rental deposits.
Conflux to Bring Uniswap v3 and Curve to China’s Public Blockchain
Conflux, the only regulatory-compliant blockchain in China, has proposed deploying Uniswap v3 on its network alongside CNH (offshore Chinese Yuan) stable currency and joining the Curve Wars with its mainnet token CFX bridged to Ethereum mainnet, known as eCFX. This proposal comes after Binance's announcement that it will support Conflux Network's (CFX) mainnet integration. The aim is to attract more initiatives, establish liquidity pools to facilitate the exchange of CFX tokens, and implement incentives that promote liquidity, ultimately increasing the network's worth and usage. By deploying Uniswap v3 on Conflux eSpace, the Uniswap community gains access to a wider range of trading opportunities with both USD- and CNHC-based pairs. Conflux's choice to integrate with the Curve ecosystem indicates its efforts to establish contact with the Curve community while on Ethereum and offer a new Curve pool for Asian DeFi projects before a possible launch of Curve on Conflux eSpace. Over 84% of global blockchain applications have been submitted in China, confirming that China represents one of the most innovative markets in Web3.
420,000+ Merchants in Changsha, China Accept CBDC Pay
More than 420,000 merchants in the Chinese city of Changsha now accept payments in the digital yuan, China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC). This figure has increased from 300,000 merchants in February this year, and the city claims the figure only comprises bricks-and-mortar businesses. The city also stated that 22 million personal CBDC wallets and 800,000 “public” wallets have been opened in the city since the pilot began, with a total of 62 million transactions made, valued at over $1.4 billion. The PBoC has begun cross-border pilots with Hong Kong and Macau, which could allow the digital yuan to find usage cases in international markets.
China's Inflation Rate Drops to Lowest in 18 Months
China’s annual inflation rate fell to 0.7% in March, from February’s 1.0%, according to official numbers released by the National Bureau of Statistics. That’s the lowest figure since September 2021, noted the Trading Economics website which quoted the data.
Crypto Evening Briefing: Hong Kong Chief Executive Emphasized That the Current Development of Web3.0 Presents a Golden Opportunity
In the face of the trend towards Web3.0, Hong Kong must be brave enough to become leaders in this wave of innovation.
Chinese Authorities to Enforce Security Reviews for AI Services
China's internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, has announced that it will enforce mandatory reviews of generative AI services prior to their public operation. The providers of AI services must ensure that all content is accurate, respects intellectual property, and does not discriminate or endanger security. Additionally, all AI-generated content must be clearly labeled as such. This announcement follows Baidu's unveiling of its new AI chatbot, ERNIE, which is built off of an AI-based deep learning model. Governments around the world are grappling with how to handle the rise of AI services, with Japan showing support for OpenAI's ChatGPT and the US President urging tech firms to consider the risks of AI to society, national security, and the economy. Meanwhile, Italy has placed a temporary ban on ChatGPT following a data breach on the platform, and OpenAI is facing a privacy probe in Canada after allegations of harvesting personal information.
Bitcoin Mining Firm Bitmain Reportedly Fined for Tax Violations in China
Chinese cryptocurrency mining firm Bitmain has been fined approximately $3.7 million by the Beijing Municipal Office of the State Administration of Taxation for violating tax regulations. The company allegedly failed to pay personal income taxes for its employees in accordance with China's laws on administration of tax collection. The tax authority had already delivered a notice on certain tax violations to Bitmain in August 2022. Bitmain is one of the world's largest cryptocurrency mining companies, but it was reportedly forced to stop its business in China in response to a blanket ban on crypto imposed by the Chinese government in September 2021.
China’s AI Unicorn SenseTime Debuts Impressive ChatGPT Rival, Raising Stakes in AI Race
SenseTime, a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) firm, has unveiled its SenseNova suite of large AI models that focus on computer vision, natural language processing, and AI-generated content. SenseTime's shares rose by as much as 11%, backed by investors like Alibaba and Softbank. The company's CEO and co-founder Xu Li said that AI bots in China would initially develop in the business-to-business (B2B) sector before expanding into the business-to-customer (B2C) market. SenseChat, a chatbot built on SenseNova, can understand multiple conversation rounds and process extensive texts, offering an experience similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT. The company's new offerings include an image generator, a digital avatar creation platform, and complementary 3D modeling tools.
China Keeps Stockpiling Gold, Adds 18 Tons in March to Reach 2,068 Tons in National Reserve
China's gold reserves have increased by 18 tons in March, continuing its buying spree that started in November 2022. The country has purchased more than 100 tons in the last five months, bringing its total gold reserves to 2,068 tons. The World Gold Council predicts that central banks will continue to hoard gold this year due to the strong demand for the commodity and the need to seek refuge in safer assets during inflationary times. Economists suggest that China may be preparing for the issuance of a gold-backed currency as part of the BRICS strategy to reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar. The continued demand for gold by central banks and macroeconomic headwinds have caused analysts to predict a rise in gold prices in the future, with some predicting that gold prices might touch the $8,000 mark in the next decade.
Former US President Donald Trump States China Is 'Trying to Replace the Dollar as Number One Currency'
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has acknowledged China's push to dethrone the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency, stating that it would be the biggest defeat for the U.S. in the last 200 years. Trump made the statement on his social platform Truth Social, citing moves by China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia to undermine the influence of the dollar in world markets. He criticized President Biden's economic policies, stating that the country was "going to hell" and that the economy was "crumbling." China, Russia, and India have been making moves to support their currencies as international settlement currencies, while the BRICS bloc is working on a new currency to be discussed in August.
