The United Arab Emirates and China have conducted the first cross-border transaction using a central bank digital currency (CBDC) on mBridge.
The transaction was commissioned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s Vice President, who also chairs the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). Alongside him were Pan Gongsheng and Khaled Mohamed Balama, the governors of the Chinese and UAE central banks, respectively.
The inaugural transaction was conducted on Jisr, a new platform built to support cross-border CBDC payments. Developed in collaboration with Chinese and UAE commercial banks, the platform is designed to offer low-cost and instant transactions, initially focusing on the UAE-China corridor before expanding to other mBridge members in 2026.
The transaction was a landmark moment for mBridge, a project whose evolution over the past few years has been swift but controversial. mBridge originally started as a joint CBDC project between Thailand and Hong Kong under Project Inthanon‑LionRock. China soon joined, as did Thailand, the UAE, and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). BIS would later exit, with experts pointing to China’s growing influence and the continued links to BRICS as key factors.
Beyond the inaugural transaction, the two countries have interlinked their instant payment systems: the UAE’s Instant Payment System and China’s Internet Banking Payment System.
The interlinkage allows both nations to conduct secure, instant, and round-the-clock cross-border payments.
“This milestone represents a pivotal step towards developing an advanced and secure payment infrastructure, enhancing trade exchange, improving the efficiency and reliability of cross-border payments, and contributing to the strengthening of economic ties between the two countries,” CBUAE noted in its announcement.
Additionally, the two launched a new multi-scheme prepaid card, jointly issued by the UAE’s Jaywan and China’s UnionPay.
“The launch of the ‘Jisr’ platform and the interlinking of instant payment systems…represent tangible steps towards developing a modern and secure financial infrastructure that fosters innovation and facilitates seamless cross-border payments,” commented Sheikh Mansour.
“I would keep my head down and carry on with the development, carry on with the testing, carry on adding certain lines of trade to mBridge settlement…the four years [of Donald Trump’s presidency] will go past pretty quickly,” commented Tom Keatinge, a director at the London-based Royal United Services Institute.
Others have warned that Trump’s threats could be the tailwind that spurs mBridge and other BRICS initiatives. Syed Akbaruddin, India’s former envoy to the UN, told the Economic Times that China, Russia, and other emerging economies are increasingly seeking alternatives to the U.S.; a low-cost cross-border payment system like mBridge could be the glue that brings these efforts together.
Saudi Arabia launches real estate tokenization infrastructure
In the neighboring Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the government has launched a national real estate tokenization infrastructure and tokenized the first title deed.
The platform was developed by the Real Estate General Authority (REGA), a public agency responsible for overseeing the private real estate sector in the country. It enables the tokenization of any property and the fractionalization of its shares, which opens up the sector to retail investors.
The inaugural tokenized asset was sold to dozens of investors by the National Housing Company, the government’s real estate and housing department.
REGA deployed the platform on blockchain technology developed by SettleMint, a Belgian blockchain-as-a-service provider.
“Saudi Arabia is now at the forefront of a global movement redefining how nations manage, invest, and transact in real-world assets. The Kingdom’s leadership has built not just technology, but trust – the essential foundation for any programmable economy,” commented SettleMint CEO Adam Popat.
According to REGA, Saudi Arabia’s real estate sector contributes around 12% of the country’s GDP, with one report projecting that it will reach $201 billion by 2030.
The Saudi Arabian government becomes one of the first in the world to venture into property tokenization, an industry traditionally dominated by private firms. Deloitte estimates that over $4 trillion worth of real estate will be tokenized by 2035.
Watch: Finding ways to use CBDC outside of digital currencies
