China's central bank has launched the world's largest government digital currency, controlled in practice by it, in a move that seems to have caused discomfort to the United States.

The Chinese currency is currently undergoing the pilot phase within China's borders.

The digital "yuan" is different from other digital currencies, as it is clearly owned or managed, unlike other currencies that appear to be out of control.

It was not easy. It took years to reach this currency.

The Chinese Digital Yuan is designed to track all financial movements, and for example the state will know the full details of everything that someone bought through this currency and where.

But the Chinese currency, by contrast, will be separated from the global financial system, where the US dollar dominates.

In contrast, a growing number of Americans have shown interest in the Digital Dollar Project, including members of Congress, who asked the Secretary of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board (the Central Bank) about the project during recent hearings.

Media reports say that US President Joe Biden's administration has begun to move against the nascent Chinese currency, amid fears that it will be part of a larger attempt to topple the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

Officials from the United States Department of State and the Pentagon are looking at the National Security Council, the implications of launching this currency, which may constitute a bypass to American sanctions.

For its part, Beijing states that the main objective of the launch of this currency is to gain greater control over the growing digital currency market, replacing some of the coins and paper in circulation.

Despite its novelty, the new currency is described as the fastest and cheapest for domestic and international transactions.