(Yicai) June 4 -- Macao has joined the mBridge central bank digital currency project, People’s Bank of China Deputy Governor Lu Lei said this week.

The Chinese special administrative region has already begun sandbox testing for the digital Macanese pataca, Lei also said on June 1 at a seminar on central bank digital currency development and cross-border innovation applications for China and Portuguese-speaking countries, hosted by the Monetary Authority of Macao.

The testing involves a limited group of pilot users of Macao’s e-pataca and a closed settlement channel to trial local retail payments while also linking to the mBridge platform for simulated cross-border digital-currency settlement.

The e-currency has entered a stable and orderly phase of sandbox testing, Lau Hang Kun, an administrative committee member in Macao’s monetary body, announced at the same event, adding that that the next step will be to expand its use gradually into e-government, public transportation, campus services, and other scenarios.

Macau also aims to use digital currency technology to upgrade Simple Pay -- its payment, clearing, and settlement system -- improving overall operating efficiency, she noted.

China National Petroleum Corporation, better known as PetroChina, has completed the first cross-border transaction between Macao and Hong Kong using mBridge, enhancing the efficiency of trans-border fund transactions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, it revealed at the seminar.

The Beijing-based energy giant has also executed the first mBridge transaction from Macao to the United Arab Emirates, creating a new channel for Chinese yuan flows into Middle Eastern markets.

Launched in 2021 by the PBOC, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Bank of Thailand, and the Central Bank of the UAE, mBridge is a cross-border payment and settlement platform for central bank digital currencies based on blockchain and distributed ledger technology. Each transaction under mBridge can be conducted in an orderly manner, enabling faster, more cost-effective, and safer cross-border payments and settlements.

In accordance with provisions in China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, covering the period through 2030, Macao is moving ahead steadily with the development of the e-pataca, said Vong Sin Man, who chairs the monetary authority’s administrative committee.

This will support yuan internationalization, help the China-Portuguese-speaking-countries financial services platform play a more important hub role in trans-border digital finance cooperation, and promote the upgrading of financial cooperation between the two sides, Vong noted.

Editor: Futura Costaglione