China-Laos Cross-Border Digital Payment Interconnection Launched, Digital Yuan Enables QR Payments

The People's Bank of China recently co-hosted the launch ceremony for China-Laos cross-border digital payment connectivity in Nanning, Guangxi. This cross-border "digital bridge" is injecting sustained vitality into people-to-people exchanges and economic and trade cooperation, while also providing a model for deepening digital financial cooperation between China and ASEAN countries.

1. Empowering Cross-Border Travel and Delivering Convenience for People's Livelihoods

Leveraging digital RMB wallets, users can make QR code payments at merchant terminals of local commercial banks in Laos. By the end of 2025, both sides had completed real transaction verification and are now jointly advancing functional upgrades and scenario expansion. This convenient payment experience not only lowers the threshold for cross-border consumption but also facilitates smoother travel and more vibrant cultural and tourism spending, delivering tangible benefits to the people of both countries.

2. Innovating Corporate Financial Services to Support Real Economy Efficiency and Cost Reduction

Some local banks in Laos have already connected to the CBETS system and launched the "ShuBiDa·LiFu" new trade settlement and investment financing services, supporting 7×24-hour digital, intelligent, and convenient closed-loop cross-border payments. Unlike the traditional model that relies on intermediary banks, digital RMB cross-border settlement significantly shortens the payment chain, substantially reducing fund transfer time while effectively lowering exchange costs and handling fees. This helps enterprises better manage exchange rate fluctuation risks. Such efficient, secure, and closed-loop digital financial services provide solid financial support for foreign trade enterprises to reduce costs and improve efficiency, contributing to the high-quality development of bilateral economic and trade exchanges.

3. Deepening Central Bank Institutional Alignment and Creating a Regional Cooperation Model

The China-Laos cross-border digital payment connectivity represents an important step in deepening bilateral financial cooperation. It is also a practical outcome of the "Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening Financial Innovation, Digital Payments, and Cross-Border Infrastructure for Legal Digital Currencies" signed by the central banks of China and Laos in June 2026, exploring a replicable and scalable path for co-building and sharing cross-border payment infrastructure.

Payments benefit people's livelihoods, finance empowers the real economy, and cooperation creates the future. It is foreseeable that the application scenarios for digital RMB cross-border payments will continue to expand, and the scope of cooperation will keep growing. Its role in facilitating trade and investment and serving the real economy will become increasingly evident, providing stronger financial support for the China-Laos Economic Corridor and China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation, driving regional cooperation toward higher quality and deeper levels.

(Source: Securities Daily)