Think of it like cash but only on your phone, a cryptocurrency that's issued by the People's Bank of China and backed by the renminbi.

把它想像成現金，不過只在你的手機裡，一種由中國人民銀行發行、人民幣背書的加密貨幣。

A new global currency.

一種全新的全球貨幣。

After Facebook announced the launch of its own cryptocurrency, the central bank accelerated its work.

在 Facebook 宣布推出自己的加密貨幣後，中央銀行便開始加快腳步。

China is already well on its way to becoming a cashless society.

中國早已朝著無現金的社會邁進。

Over 600 million Chinese, almost half the country, already use apps such as Alibaba's Alipay and Tencent's WeChat to pay for everything from groceries to bike rentals.

超過 6 億中國人，將近全國的半數，已經在使用阿里巴巴的支付寶和騰訊的微信來支付所有款項，從購買雜貨到租借腳踏車。

Today, the two companies handle close to 90% of China's third-party mobile payments market.

今日，這兩間公司掌控著將近百分之 90 的第三方行動支付市場。

The central bank's currency will provide a new payment tool to substitute cash.

中央銀行的貨幣將提供一種新型態的支付工具來取代現金。

Unlike Alipay or WeChat, users won't be limited to paying within one platform.

不同於支付寶或微信，使用者將不受限於透過單一平台付款。

China plans for its crypto to be accepted by any individual or institution, just like banknotes and coins.

中國計劃使任何個體戶和機構都能接受其加密貨幣，就像紙鈔和硬幣一樣。

If Beijing's plan materialize, China could become the first major nation to go completely cash-free, and that could reverberate across the global financial system.

若北京的計畫實現了，中國有望成為第一個徹底無現金化的大國，而這將可能造成全球金融體系的震盪。

If it succeeds, I would expect that a large number of other countries will want to emulate their success.

如果這成功了，我預計會有非常多的國家想要效仿他們的成功。

There is still little known about how the system, known as Digital Currency Electronic Payments or DCEP will operate and what it will look like.

關於數位貨幣電子支付，或簡稱 DCEP，的系統將會如何運作、看起來如何，我們仍所知甚少。

So, we examined official statements and documents to understand why China is pushing hard into this crypto future.

所以我們檢視了官方聲明和文件，以了解中國為何如此努力地在推動加密貨幣的未來。

This is Mu Changchun.

這是穆長春。

He oversees the central bank's digital currency efforts and is the country's most outspoken authority on the roll-out.

他負責監督中央銀行數位貨幣的成果，並且是在數位貨幣首次亮相方面有著最直言不諱的權威。

Since August, he has given a number of speeches on China's digital yuan, and even launched an online course about Facebook's Libra on a popular Chinese education app.

自八月起，他已針對中國的數位「元」發表過許多次演講，甚至在一個中國受歡迎的教育型應用程式上推出了一套有關 Facebook Libra 的課程。

Facebook's plans to provide its two billion users with a brand-new digital currency spooked central banks around the world, including China's.

Facebook 預計提供其 20 億用戶一種全新數位貨幣的計畫使全球的中央銀行感到驚慌，當中也包含了中國。

They see that Libra could be a way of extending American financial hegemony into the digital currency space as well, say, helping to implement sanctions and export controls.

他們認為 Libra 也可能是美國金融霸權延伸至數位貨幣領域的管道，比方說，協助執行制裁和出口管制。

Beijing historically sought decentralized digital currencies like Bitcoin as a threat to a long-standing pillar of its monetary policy: capital control.

過去，北京探索過分散管理的數位貨幣，如比特幣，會威脅到其貨幣政策長久以來的重要支柱：資本管制。

But then in October, Chinese president Xi Jinping spoke about the important role of blockchain, endorsing the government's embrace of the technology that powers cryptocurrencies.

然而在十月份，中國主席習近平談論到區塊鏈的重要地位，支持政府採用能夠推動加密貨幣發展的科技。

They're looking at this and saying, is there some element of it that we'd like.

他們看著這東西並思考，這當中是否有我們會需要的元素。

And actually, what they found is that blockchain is an excellent technology for tracking.

而的確，他們發現區塊鏈是用來進行追蹤的絕佳科技。

That could give an unprecedented level of power for any central bank in the world over capital movements.

這可能為世界上任何中央銀行提供前所未有的權力來控制資本移動。

Officials say the digital currency will not challenge Alipay and WeChat, but it would have some similarities.

官方表示這個數位貨幣並不會挑戰支付寶和微信的地位，但卻會有些相似之處。

Like WeChat and Alipay, it will need a digital wallet.

如同微信和支付寶，它會需要一個數位錢包。

But unlike the paying platforms, it won't require a bank account.

然而不同於這些支付平台，它不會需要銀行帳戶。

Instead, commercial banks will issue the digital wallets.

取而代之的是由商業銀行發行數位錢包。

A unique aspect of China's crypto will be that payments can be conducted offline.

中國加密貨幣最獨特的一點是，它將能夠在離線的狀態下執行付款。

So, in case of a natural disaster when the network is down or if you're on board a plane, you can still pay as long as your phone has power.

因此在天災發生而網路中斷的情況下或是在飛機上的時候，只要你的手機有電力，就仍然可以付款。

And authorities promise a major difference will be greater anonymity, but it won't be absolute anonymity.

而官方承諾，最大的差別在於數位貨幣將有更高的匿名性，但它不會是完全地匿名。

This patent filed by the central bank in 2017 shows that it's researched ways to track digital cash.

這項由中央銀行在 2017 年申請的專利顯示，他們在研究追蹤數位現金的方法。

Marketers won't know what people spend their money on, but that information will still be visible to the central bank to a certain extent.

商人不會知道消費者把錢花在哪，但這些資訊在一定程度上依然可以被中央銀行檢視。

One of the most interesting aspects of the system is how much data will the central bank have about where things go because that's one of the largest, most important differences between digital currency and cash.

這個系統最引人關注的一個面向是，中央銀行究竟能擁有多少關於貨幣流向的資料，因為這是數位貨幣和現金最大、最重要的一個差別。

The central bank calls this controllable anonymity and says big data can help identify certain behavioral characteristics.

中央銀行稱之為可控制的匿名性，並表示大數據能夠幫忙辨別特定行為特徵。

Officials say tracking transactions will help battle money laundering, tax evasion, and terrorist financing, which is harder to do with cash transactions.

官方表示追蹤交易能夠幫助對抗洗錢、逃稅及資助恐怖份子，而這是現金交易難以達成的。

And while the central bank says it won't spy on citizen's everyday transactions, experts are worried that China's cryptocurrency will allow greater state surveillance.

儘管中央銀行表示他們不會監控人民的日常交易，但專家卻擔心中國的加密貨幣將容許更高度的國家監視。

China's central bank is not the only one pursuing a digital state-backed currency, but it is likely to be the first major one to launch it.

不是只有中國央行在追求由國家背書之數位貨幣，不過它很有可能是第一個發行的大國。

Beyond replacing cash, this could internationalize the renminbi, and experts think possibly create less dependency on the U.S. dollar.

除了替代現金之外，這還可能使人民幣全球化，且專家認為這也很可能減少對美元的依賴。

There's still a long way before that happens.

在這些實現前，仍有很長一段路。

Though most governments are still wary about crypto, the world will be watching China's experiment closely.

儘管大多數政府仍對加密貨幣持觀望態度，全世界將會密切地關注中國的實驗。