China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), together with seven national regulatory bodies, issued a joint statement on Friday prohibiting the unauthorized issuance of Renminbi-pegged stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets.

The restriction covers both domestic and overseas issuers of stablecoins and tokenized RWAs and was also endorsed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The translated notice stated:

“Stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies perform some of the functions of fiat currencies in disguise during circulation and use. No unit or individual at home or abroad may issue RMB-linked stablecoins without the consent of relevant departments.”

Winston Ma, adjunct professor at New York University Law School and former managing director at China Investment Corporation, explained that the prohibition applies to both onshore and offshore forms of the Chinese currency.

“The Beijing crypto ban rule applies across all RMB-related markets, whether CNH or CNY,” he said, referring to CNH as the offshore version of the Renminbi designed to support foreign-exchange flexibility while preserving capital controls.

Focus remains on the digital yuan

Ma noted that the policy reflects a broader long-term strategy to keep speculative cryptocurrency activity outside the formal financial system while promoting adoption of the state-issued digital yuan.

“This is the latest step in a multi-year project: Keep speculative crypto outside the formal financial system, while actively promoting the usage of e-CNY, the sovereign CBDC issued by China's central bank,” he said.

The statement followed a separate decision by Chinese authorities allowing commercial banks to share interest with users holding digital yuan balances, a move intended to strengthen the appeal of the central bank digital currency.

Earlier stablecoin considerations gave way to tighter policy

Reports in August 2025 indicated that Chinese authorities had briefly explored permitting private firms to issue yuan-linked stablecoins, which would have marked a significant shift from previous policy. However, by September, regulators tightened restrictions and instructed issuers to pause or halt related pilot programs.

Further steps were taken in January 2026 when the PBOC authorized commercial banks to pay interest on digital yuan wallets, reinforcing the government’s emphasis on advancing the CBDC rather than supporting private stablecoin initiatives.

Sources:

https://www.pbc.gov.cn/tiaofasi/144941/3581332/2026020619591971323/index.html

https://cointelegraph.com/news/china-bans-stablecoin-rwa-foreign-domestic