JD.com and Ant Group Advocate for Yuan Stablecoins to Challenge Dollar Dominance

In the face of the tariff from the United States, the semiconductor war, and the tension surrounding its oil supply in the Middle East, it seems that China is already on its knees.

But instead of backing down, China is responding with a retaliation on its own. In the hushed corridors of Beijing, China is launching its most powerful weapon yet-the yuan-back stablecoin.

For the past several months, JD.com and Ant Group has been pleading before the People's Bank of China (PBOC) to approve a stablecoin based on the offshore yuan.

And China will be using Hong Kong, this half-Chinese, half-international hub, as their playground.

China's plan is simple-to erase the traces of the greenback in as many countries as possible. And Hong Kong just happened to be China's first target.

For Richard Liu, the founder of JD.com, the issue is clear: the yuan backed by a stablecoin will be the main instrument to provide a viable alternative to the dominance of U.S dollar-pegged digital tokens.

According to the Bank for International Settlements, the U.S dollar-pegged digital token accounts for more than 99% of existing stablecoins.

Hong Kong has been a long time financial laboratory for mainland China, and has been a lucrative ground that many countries has been vying on to push their own monetary policies.

On May 21, 2025, Hong Kong adopted the Stablecoins Bill, an ambitious legislation regulating stablecoin issuers. Starting from August, only issuers with a license can operate mandatory reserve, audits total transparency.

For the People's Bank of China, this progress is also a real-world test. Because while crypto is still banned in China, it leverages on Hong Kong as a legal and technological mirror.

The monetary advisor of PBOC, Huang Yiping explained this phenomenon, saying

"Since China's capital account is not fully liberalized, it would be very difficult to launch a stablecoin nationally."

The push for yuan-denominated stablecoins comes at a critical time. In May, the yuan’s share of global payments fell to 2.89%, its lowest in nearly two years, while the US dollar maintained a dominant 48% share, according to Swift data.

Industry experts, including former Bank of China deputy head Wang Yongli, have warned that if yuan cross-border payments remain less efficient than dollar stablecoins, China could face significant strategic risks.

This push for stablecoin has two hidden motives: first it aims to meet the growing demand of Chinese exporters, who often turn to USDT to circumvent capital controls and limit currency risks; secondly, to weaken the dollar's dominance in the international financial landscape.

Ant Group also plans to extend this plan outside of Hong Kong into other countries like Singapore. However, the it will be first testing the yuan stablecoin in Hongkong before deploying it into other mainland China's free trade zones.