The shipping-fee settlement used the upgraded Digital Currency Express platform and reached the Singapore recipient the same day, extending ICBC’s cross-border digital renminbi network.
ICBC completed what Mobile Payment Network described as the first China-Singapore cross-border payment conducted through the Digital Currency Express comprehensive settlement platform, settling nearly 10 million yuan in import shipping fees entirely in digital renminbi. The payment was handled by the Shanghai branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and ICBC Singapore, with funds arriving in the Singapore recipient’s account on the same day. The transaction was completed for W Company, a subsidiary of a centrally owned enterprise’s trading platform that regularly imports iron ore and pays overseas shipping charges. The report said the company had previously relied on conventional international transfers involving multiple intermediary banks, longer processing times and foreign exchange costs, making the digital yuan route notable for faster processing and more direct visibility into cross-border fund flows. The deal also highlights China’s broader effort to build out digital yuan infrastructure for international use. Mobile Payment Network said ICBC has now linked digital yuan payment and collection services with both Singapore and Laos through the CBETS platform, creating a unified settlement framework across its domestic and overseas branches. The platform, built by the International Operation Center of the digital renminbi under guidance from the People’s Bank of China’s Digital Currency Research Institute, supports both centralized and blockchain-based systems and uses ISO 20022 (global financial messaging standard) to align with existing payment rails. China has been widening its digital yuan push beyond domestic retail payments through dedicated international infrastructure, cross-border pilot programs and parallel discussion of stablecoins. Mobile Payment Network said ICBC plans to work with the International Operation Center to expand standardized digital yuan settlement services across cross-border e-commerce, offshore trade, commodity financing and international logistics payments as more foreign trade companies adopt the platform.