On May 14, 2025, at 14:30 pm, the 42nd Forum on Digital Technology and Economic Finance Frontiers was successfully held. The theme of the lecture was "Research on Supra-Sovereign Digital Stablecoins", and the guest speaker was Professor Lijian Wei from Sun Yat-sen University.The lecture was chaired by Xianming Sun, Associate Professor of the Finance School and executive Deputy Director of the Innovation and Talent Base for Digital Technology and Finance. More than 30 teachers and students from the School of Finance participated in this lecture.

At the beginning of the lecture, Associate Professor Xianming Sun briefly introduced relevant information of Professor Lijian Wei to the participants and expressed his sincere gratitude for his availability to give a lecture at our college despite his busy schedule.

Professor Lijian Wei first addressed the challenges of the current international monetary system, highlighting how the dominant position of the US dollar exacerbates global financial volatility and threatens economic security worldwide. Against this backdrop, he proposed the concept of a supra-sovereign digital stablecoin—a digital currency jointly established by multiple central banks and pegged to a basket of offshore sovereign currencies.

Next, Professor Lijian Wei analyzed the unique advantages of supra-sovereign digital stablecoins from theoretical and technical perspectives. He emphasized that such stablecoins could resolve conflicts between domestic monetary policies and international demands, address global economic imbalances, and fundamentally overcome the Triffin Dilemma. Compared to non-legal-tender cryptocurrencies, supra-sovereign digital stablecoins combine price stability and market efficiency while avoiding high volatility.

Building on the dual functions of currency (transaction and store of value), Professor Lijian Wei developed a trade cost comparison model. His research demonstrated that supra-sovereign digital stablecoins significantly reduce trade costs for non-US dollar economies, enhance cross-border commerce, and strengthen economic ties among these nations. Furthermore, using transaction share ratios and minimum exchange rate volatility variance methods, he determined the theoretical weight range for anchoring offshore currencies and successfully constructed a prototype. Empirical analysis revealed that such stablecoins optimize international investors’ currency allocations, improving portfolio returns and Sharpe ratios.

Regarding policy recommendations, Professor Lijian Wei urged China to collaborate with like-minded nations to establish supra-sovereign digital stablecoins as a new international payment infrastructure, particularly amid US-led "tariff wars" and the constraints of the dollar-dominated global settlement system. He outlined specific measures across four dimensions: currency weight design, reserve backing, operational frameworks, and application scenarios. He proposed piloting the initiative in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, then expanding to ASEAN, Russia, and beyond, ultimately creating a global system.

During the Q&A session, students actively engaged with questions on technical implementation, promotion strategies, and the stablecoin’s potential impact on the international monetary landscape. Professor Lijian Wei addressed each query in detail, fostering a lively and in-depth discussion.

The forum concluded with Associate Professor Xianming Sun’s closing remarks. Participants unanimously expressed that they gained profound insights into supra-sovereign digital stablecoins, recognizing their critical role in countering dollar hegemony and reforming the global payment system.

Speaker Introduction

Lijian Wei is a Professor and PhD Supervisor at the School of Business Administration, Sun Yat-sen University, and a recipient of the university’s Yat-sen Young Scholar title. He serves as Academic Director of the school (overseeing the Ministry of Education Philosophy and Social Sciences Laboratory for Big Data Management Behavior and Decision-Making), Executive Director of the SYSU-Shansikaiwu AI Innovation Empowerment Joint Laboratory, Executive Director of the SYSU Bay Valley Risk Management Technology Laboratory, and a national “Dual-Leadership” Faculty Party Branch Secretary. He is a recipient of the Guangdong Natural Science Fund for Outstanding Youth and a Guangzhou High-Level Financial Talent.

Professor Lijian Wei is Executive Editor of Journal of Digital Intelligence Technology and Applications and Editorial Director of the International Journal of Financial Engineering. His research focuses on FinTech, intelligent investment, and financial risk management. He has led multiple National Natural Science Foundation of China projects and coordinated major NSFC joint-fund initiatives. His work, published in journals such as Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Decision Support Systems, and IEEE Intelligent Systems, includes ESI Hot Papers and Highly Cited Papers. His policy recommendations have been adopted by national and provincial governments, and his insights have been featured in media outlets like CCTV News and CCTV Finance.

Frontier Forum for Digital Technology and Finance introduction

Recent years have witnessed a dramatic acceleration in a digital revolution in economic sectors and a rapid adoption of the new generation of information technologies, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, big data, etc. These technologies effectively set off the digital economy. It has become a key driving force in creating global economic growth, improving the modernization level of governance capabilities, and promoting high-quality economic development in China. In particular, digital finance is the most important part of the digital economy. To explore the development direction of the cross-integration of digital technology and finance, the Innovation and Talent Base for Digital Technology and Finance is hosting the “Frontier Forum for Digital Technology and Finance”, in collaboration with the School of Finance, Wenlan School of Business, Economics School, School of Information and Safety Engineering, School of Statistics and Mathematics, School of Public Finance and Taxation of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (ZUEL). This lecture series will invite the well-known scholars at home and abroad in digital technology, digital economy, digital finance, and other related fields as guest speakers, providing an open and cutting-edge academic exchange platform for interdisciplinary research on digital technology and finance.