The Chinese and UAE central banks signed a memorandum of understanding regarding digital currencies during the “Belt and Road” initiative summit for global companies in Beijing this week. This memorandum was signed between the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the UAE central bank to strengthen cooperation frameworks. In the field of digital currencies, while the Commercial Bank of China (BoC) also signed a joint cooperation agreement in the field of digital currencies with the largest bank in the Emirates - First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB). This development comes against the backdrop of the existing partnership between the two central banks in the mBridge project, which focuses on international payment operations. This initiative also includes the Bank for International Financial Settlements (BIS) and the central banks of Thailand and Hong Kong.

The announcement referred to additional cooperation with the Bank of Indonesia, and although there is no clarity regarding the extension of the agreement to include the crypto sector, Indonesia was trying to study a program to launch its own digital rupiah.