ASEAN weighs efficiency against sovereignty as e-CNY spreads
Regional coordination may decide ASEAN’s financial autonomy.
The digital yuan’s planned 2025 expansion marks a shift in Asia’s financial plumbing, linking new regional payment channels to settle transactions faster than legacy systems and reduce reliance on the US dollar.
Usage data points to broader ambitions. Renminbi settlements in cross-border trade are rising, signalling that e-CNY has moved beyond domestic trials and is now a tool for currency internationalisation.
Beijing’s strategy becomes clearer in Southeast Asia, where the system promises efficiency while embedding influence. Deeper integration could narrow ASEAN monetary policy options and increase dependence on infrastructure controlled by China.
Responses across the region are uneven. Some states pursue national digital currencies or alternative payment projects, while others engage selectively, reflecting diverging priorities around efficiency, sovereignty and innovation.
Analysts warn that, without coordination, widespread e-CNY adoption could create a structural reliance. ASEAN faces a choice between fragmented pragmatism and collective action to shape its digital financial future.
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