Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Ambitions Amid Beijing’s Regulatory Clampdown

Chinese tech giants Ant Group and JD.com have halted their stablecoin projects in Hong Kong following regulatory intervention from Beijing, highlighting a significant policy stance on digital currency issuance. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) explicitly instructed these companies to suspend their plans amid concerns over private firms issuing digital currencies potentially undermining central bank authority and the state-backed digital yuan (e-CNY) initiative.

This pause marks a major setback for Hong Kong's stablecoin pilot program, launched in August 2025, which aimed to regulate and license stablecoin issuers as part of the territory's efforts to become a digital finance hub.

The regulatory pushback reflects the Chinese government's strategic priority to maintain monetary sovereignty and control over digital currency issuance. Beijing's officials questioned the authority of private companies to create currency-like tokens, emphasizing that this right should be reserved exclusively for the state.

The intervention also extended to local brokerages and think tanks, ordered to cease promotion and development of stablecoins and tokenization projects, signaling a comprehensive crackdown on private sector digital currency initiatives.

This incident exposes a clear policy divergence between Hong Kong's embrace of regulated stablecoin innovation and mainland China's strict prohibitions and control measures. Ant Group and JD.com had initially intended to participate in Hong Kong’s stablecoin licensing framework, capitalizing on the territory’s new regulatory regime.

However, Beijing’s firm stance has put a halt to those ambitions, underscoring tensions between fostering digital financial innovation and preserving central bank authority in China’s evolving digital currency landscape.reuters+3​