‘数字货币’ literally means ‘number-character currency’ — ‘数’ (shù) means ‘number’, ‘字’ (zì) means ‘character’ or ‘digit’, together forming ‘digital’; ‘货’ (huò) and ‘币’ (bì) both relate to ‘goods’ and ‘currency’, combining to mean ‘money’ or ‘coin’. So the term refers to money that exists purely in electronic form, not as physical cash or coins. It includes cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) such as China’s e-CNY, and other tokenized forms of value issued and verified digitally.

This term is widely used in finance, technology, and policy discussions in China. Unlike informal terms like ‘虚拟货币’ (xūnǐ huòbì, ‘virtual currency’), ‘数字货币’ is neutral and official — it appears in government documents, news reports, and banking announcements. It emphasizes the digital representation and transmission of monetary value, rather than physical storage or analog systems.