China’s central bank expands the infrastructure for its digital yuan (e-CNY) by onboarding a first batch of 26 financial institutions to a cross-border payments platform. The institutions—both domestic and overseas—join as direct participants in China’s Cross-border e-CNY Transfer Services (CBETS), which is managed by the People’s Bank of China. The expansion supports China’s efforts to scale adoption of the digital yuan by enabling additional participants to conduct cross-border transfers using the e-CNY. Sources describe the move as part of a broader plan to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of international payments, while also supporting wider use of the yuan in cross-border transactions. The reporting frames the digital yuan’s rollout as evolving beyond early domestic use cases toward larger cross-border payment services. The announcements indicate the central bank is continuing to broaden the network of institutions connected to CBETS, marking another step in building out payment-related capabilities for the digital currency.