Linking central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) of China to 10 ASEAN and 6 Middle Eastern countries under question due to accusations of spreading false news.

Linking central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) of China to 10 ASEAN and 6 Middle Eastern countries under question due to accusations of spreading false news.

In a report by Nigerian outlet Proshare, it was claimed that China's digital RMB cross-border payment system has been linked to ten ASEAN countries and six Middle Eastern jurisdictions. However, a thorough search of recent sources has not found any direct confirmation of this claim.

China's digital RMB, or e-CNY, has shown significant growth, with transactions exceeding $34 billion by mid-2025, mainly in major cities. The Chinese government is actively working towards boosting opening-up, international customs cooperation, and trade facilitation, which could potentially support cross-border digital currency use.

Experts suggest that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), like China's digital RMB, are more efficient for building cross-border payment infrastructure compared to stablecoins. This supports the notion that China is actively pursuing cross-border digital payments.

Despite these efforts, the renminbi has recently slipped to sixth place globally by payment currency share, indicating challenges remain in international adoption of RMB or e-CNY for global payments.

The mBridge cross-border payment solution, which includes Hong Kong, Thailand, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and several observer countries, was launched in June 2024. For mBridge to reach 38% of global trade, all central banks in each of the connected countries and all their commercial banks would need to be connected. However, the slow and gradual adoption of mBridge by Chinese banks makes this figure currently theoretical.

It's worth noting that the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) stepped away from mBridge in November 2024, stating the project had graduated and that it could not be involved with sanctioned countries. At the time, mBridge had one ASEAN member (Thailand) and five ASEAN observers.

The status of China's digital RMB system being linked to exactly ten ASEAN countries and six Middle Eastern jurisdictions appears either premature, under negotiation, or not publicly detailed as of August 2025. It is unlikely that mBridge has significantly expanded its membership in just five months, suggesting the current report may be false.

The cost of choosing a trading currency other than dollars falls on merchants, who usually want to save money. For most countries, their optimal foreign exchange rate is against the dollar, due to a higher number of buyers and sellers for that exchange rate.

In conclusion, while China is actively expanding the digital RMB ecosystem and enhancing cross-border trade infrastructure, there is no clear, publicly confirmed statement in the accessible recent sources verifying that the digital RMB system is currently linked to exactly ten ASEAN countries and six Middle Eastern jurisdictions. The news report may have been taken down due to sensitivities regarding US tariffs, or it may be false and sites were instructed to remove it for that reason.

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