<p>The People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the country’s central bank, has said that its digital currency is “progressing smoothly.”</p> <p>The development was <a href="http://www.pbc.gov.cn/goutongjiaoliu/113456/113469/3955023/index.html">announced</a> by the central bank at its annual work conference held in Beijing last week. The PBoC, however, did not announce the launch date yet.</p> <p>“We will continue to steadily advance the development of legal digital currencies” in 2020, said the central bank.</p> <p>China's digital currency has been in the works for at least five years, with the PBoC having started the initiative in 2014. The much-anticipated digital yuan will be first distributed to commercial banks and then users and businesses can register digital wallets with these commercial banks, the PBoC <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/49659/report-chinas-central-bank-to-test-digital-currency-in-two-cities-partnering-with-state-backed-commercial-banks-and-telecom-giants">stated</a> recently.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/49659/report-chinas-central-bank-to-test-digital-currency-in-two-cities-partnering-with-state-backed-commercial-banks-and-telecom-giants">first cities</a> to pilot digital currency will reportedly be Shenzhen and Suzhou. The PBOC is said to have partnered with seven state-owned commercial banks and telecoms - the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China, China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom - to roll out the test.</p>