Headquarters of the People's Bank of China, China's central bank, in Beijing in October 2018 Photo: IC

Research and development involving China's digital currency has made progress, but the country has no timetable to launch a digital currency yet, the central bank governor said on Tuesday.

China's "digital currency for electronic payments" design aims to replace part of M0 instead of M1 and M2, and the country's digital currency plan will not change its current path of currency supply, Yi Gang, governor of the People's Bank of China, told a press conference in Beijing.

There is no timetable for China to launch a digital currency as the PBC needs to research, test and evaluate such a currency and prevent risks, the governor said.

M0 money supply is usually defined as currency in circulation, while M1 is calculated as M0 plus demand deposits. M2, known as broad money supply, includes a much broader range.

Yi said that there is no presupposition for a technology roadmap of digital currency research and development, and blockchain (a digital, public ledger that records online transactions) will be considered to develop a digital currency.

The plan to combine the digital currency with electronic payments aims to activate the Chinese market, Yi said.  

If the digital currency is to be used in cross-border business, more regulations related to anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and tax evasion need to be put in place, according to Yi.

Chinese shares related to digital currency got a boost during Tuesday trading as Jilin-based Jinguan Co, Shenzhen-based Asia Link Technology and Beijing-based BJCA Co surged by the daily limit of 10 percent.