China’s central bank is preparing to approve the country’s first renminbi-backed stablecoins, with the initial launches expected to take place in Hong Kong, the Financial Times reported on 6 August. The move is part of Beijing’s broader effort to internationalise the renminbi and offer an alternative to dollar-denominated tokens used in global crypto markets. Policymakers believe a Hong Kong-based rollout could facilitate cross-border transactions while keeping the mainland’s tightly controlled financial system insulated. However, regulators have cautioned that privately issued tokens carry heightened money-laundering and capital-flight risks, concerns that could slow wider adoption on the mainland. The plan emerges as authorities wrestle with persistent capital outflows and debate how to strengthen a currency many analysts, including former US Treasury official Mark Sobel, view as undervalued. While China has banned most domestic trading of cryptocurrencies, it has promoted its own central-bank digital currency; the forthcoming RMB-pegged stablecoins would represent a separate, privately issued instrument operating on public blockchains.