China expands its digital yuan pilot to more cities, scenarios

A visitor buys a cup of coffee with e-CNY (digital yuan) at an exhibition of financial services during the 2022 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) at the Shougang Park in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 4, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

With the latest update of the digital yuan application, China has expanded its digital yuan pilot to more cities and scenarios, reported Shanghai Securities News on Thursday.

According to the application, the pilot programme has been expanded from cities of Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiong'an and Chengdu to the respective provinces, including Guangdong, Jiangsu, Hebei and Sichuan. 

Besides, more cities have been added to the pilot, including city of Jinan in Shandong province, Nanning and Fangchenggang in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Kunming and Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan province.

The move sees the pilot move into different regions in China, which is conducive to assessing the application potential of digital yuan in different areas of China, said experts.

Apart from expansion in regions, the digital yuan has accelerated integration into major consumption scenarios.

It's learned that the digital yuan was added to payment options of the Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao.

In fact, before Taobao, the digital yuan had already covered some major online platforms, such as the e-commerce giant JD.com, the on-demand retail platform Meituan and the ride-hailing giant DiDi.

According to the application, a total of 92 platforms have enabled digital yuan payment, covering scenarios of shopping, transport, lifestyle and travelling.