Digital Yuan Cross-Border Payment Service CBETS LIFT Launched to Tackle Three Major Trade Pain Points

Positive developments have emerged in the field of cross-border trade finance. On September 18, reporters learned that Digital RMB has upgraded its systematic service capabilities in cross-border trade settlement and investment and financing.

Technology Neutrality Supports Bank-Enterprise Matching and Ecosystem Collaboration

Reporters learned that CBETS LIFT is a new comprehensive professional service for digital RMB cross-border payments.

Specifically, CBETS LIFT uses CBETS as the foundation for financial services, leverages local trade digitalization service platforms as links, and connects electronic shipping documentation systems.

The Digital RMB Operations Management Center stated that CBETS LIFT services adhere to technology neutrality, support the combination of on-chain and off-chain operations, do not limit specific technical paths, maintain an open nature, and provide support for bank-enterprise matching and ecosystem collaboration.

Helping Solve Three Major Challenges in Cross-Border Trade

CBETS LIFT is expected to help address three key challenges in cross-border trade.

Challenge 1: Fragmentation Among Documents, Information, and Funds

The first challenge in cross-border trade is the fragmentation among documents, information, and funds, with banks facing operational inefficiencies.

Solution: Digital RMB smart contracts automatically fulfill contract terms based on pre-agreed rules among parties. Programmatic implementation of financing and payment logic enables targeted disbursement of financing, post-loan management, and automatic transfer of sales proceeds, thereby reducing compliance costs and transaction friction. Meanwhile, CBETS LIFT introduces innovative privacy mechanisms, supporting the sharing of trusted data from customs, taxation, and foreign exchange on-chain. It enables the integration of intelligent agents to assist financial institutions in efficiently verifying trade authenticity, facilitating verification of trade document authenticity and forward-looking risk warnings. It also supports blockchain-based electronic shipping trade documents.

Challenge 2: Dispersed Supply-Demand Resources and High Matching Costs

The second challenge in cross-border trade is the dispersion of supply-demand resources and high matching costs. Small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises are more likely to face difficulties in customer acquisition, platform access, and insufficient availability of financial services.

Solution: CBETS LIFT enables central bank-side financial infrastructure—namely CBETS, financial institutions, and market-side trade digitalization service platforms—to perform their respective roles and coordinate collaboratively, jointly building an interconnected, open, and inclusive ecosystem.

Challenge 3: Limited Supply of Offshore RMB and Related Financial Products

The third challenge in cross-border trade is the limited supply of offshore RMB and related financial products. After enterprises' cross-border funds leave China, unclear fund flows, long collection chains, and high uncertainty result in practical business challenges where RMB cannot be smoothly paid out, retained, or brought back.

Solution: CBETS LIFT supports cross-border trade using local currency settlement, helping enterprises reduce exchange costs and foreign exchange risks. Building on this, CBETS LIFT has made significant efforts to improve the end-to-end experience for offshore entities in obtaining, holding, and using RMB, aiming to form a closed loop of "onshore financing outflow—offshore settlement receipts and payments—investment in offshore markets—repatriation to onshore."

• On one hand, CBETS LIFT provides digital RMB trade financing services to overseas enterprises, alleviating liquidity constraints for their procurement from China. Lending banks can rely on smart contracts to achieve automated post-loan risk management.
• On the other hand, after obtaining digital RMB, overseas enterprises can either continue purchasing domestic goods and services or choose RMB investment and liquidity management products offered by banks.
• Furthermore, they can connect with trading and custody-related financial infrastructure, forming a closed loop for cross-border investment and financing by financial institutions, thus supporting high-level opening-up.

Ecosystem Co-Construction Serves Regional Economic and Trade Development

Reporters learned that CBETS LIFT has currently completed multiple real transaction verifications, covering import and export scenarios. It serves both large enterprises' industrial chain operations and explores inclusive and feasible pathways for more market participants, creating replicable and scalable practical use cases.

For example, in Guangxi, Guangxi HKC procured electronic components from HKC Overseas through the Guangxi Trade Digitalization Service Platform, with Agricultural Bank of China facilitating the transaction.

The Digital RMB Operations Management Center noted that currently, trade digitalization service platforms in Shanghai, Guangxi, and Fujian have taken the lead in connecting, achieving coordinated linkage. Next, CBETS LIFT will continue to expand its ecosystem network, supporting more regional trade platforms, financial institutions, and industry players in participating in co-construction, and continuously refining a standardized, replicable, and scalable new model for cross-border trade financial services.

Source: Shanghai Securities News · China Securities Network