While it looks like an involuntary impulse to Facebook's plans to create a globally-accepted electronic currency, China has been in the thick of things studying its own virtual money as early as 2013.
The Chinese government, in particular the country's President Xi Jinping, bared that they would be hastening their own virtual currency, as soon as proceedings on the Libra at the US House of Representatives ended in October last year.
Now, a former deputy governor of China's central bank is calling on the country's finance regulators to reconsider their stance - and their reactions - on Libra.
When Facebook made public its plans for a new cryptocurrency in 2019, the social media giant apparently gave central banks and governments around the globe the jitters.
As a matter of fact, according to a report by the South China Morning Post on Sunday, the clash of minds continues in China over whether (or how) the People's Bank of China should roll out its own digital money, and when.
Chinese regulators are not very comfortable with the idea that a popular cryptocurrency like the Libra may further boost the influence of the US currency in the digital arena.
These worries certainly do make sense, as they are widespread since Chin's yuan does not share the same page of key assets that support the Libra.
Even taking all this into one perspective, former central bank official Zhu Min is urging China to study carefully its approach on Libra.
"I think it is very important to join the discussions and take part in the global regulation of Libra," Zhu told Sina.com.
Zhu pointed out that the PBOC's electronic currency research program, officially called Digital Currency Electronic Payment, is a "natural process".
This seems to propose that there's no concrete and quick timeframe for a launch date of China's central bank digital currency.
By all accounts, Zhu is not the only one advocating for a global regulation system (to include China) that will seriously delve on cryptocurrency.
Former researcher at State Council Development Research Centre in China, Ba Shusong, echoed Zhu's key points.
Ba, who currently serves as chief economist for the Hong Kong stock exchange - stated that a multi-lateral institution was required to cover virtual currencies like the Libra that have the clout to challenge the existing financial framework and even change it entirely.
Ba spoke at a Hong Kong seminar earlier this month and said there were just a lot of issues surrounding digital currencies because of their reach outside national boundaries.
Ba cautioned that the advancement of central bank-supported digital money could trigger animosities among finance institutions around the world as they struggle to manage their foreign exchange influence, adding that cryptocurrencies like the Libra deepens worries about its use for nefarious activities like money laundering.
