The People's Bank of China (PBC) is introducing a new digital currency called the electronic Chinese yuan, also known as eCNY, which tourists might trade in for foreign bills after scanning their passports.
At several locations in the Beijing Olympic Village, visitors may use their credit cards or mobile payment apps to spend their digital currency.
Adopting eCNY
According to Wired, government officials in China are urging residents to switch to the digital yuan.
The trials began in the cities of Fujian, a province on the southern coast that serves as a hub for foreign commerce. Within days after the announcement, signs indicating that digital yuan payments are accepted appeared in supermarkets and service establishments in Fuzhou, the provincial capital, and rapidly rolled out to adjacent rural regions, according to Wired's source.
However, reports said many residents do not see the need for a new digital payment method since they could already use Alipay of e-commerce giant Alibaba and WeChat Pay of social media and gaming giant Tencent.
To encourage locals to use the currency, the government may reimburse employees' costs in digital yuan or deposit modest amounts into new users' wallets.
When the first 20 couples were married at a registry office in the city of Chengdu last year during the Qixi Festival, commonly dubbed China's Valentine's Day, the ICBC bank gave each of them a card loaded with 199 digital yuan, or approximately $30.
Digital currencies backed by the government are expected to boost productivity and inspire new ideas in the banking sector. The digital yuan allows for new types of government monitoring and societal control, according to tech and China specialists following the country's effort.
See Also : Shanghai Government Drops Alipay to its Tech Firm List, Might Revoke Company's Certain Tax Benefits
eCNY Debut
The eCNY was brought in by the Chinese government during the Winter Olympics in Beijing earlier this year.
While 2019 saw the start of digital currency trial programs in China, its Olympic debut was part of a larger initiative with worldwide goals.
China is years ahead of the US and other developed nations since it is the first major country to roll out an official digital currency at scale. Other regions still have this idea in the debate stage.
However, China's digital yuan, which is expected to surpass all others, has had a sluggish start.
According to the PBC, by the end of 2021, the official eCNY app had 261 million users. As of August 31, more than 100 billion yuan (about $14 billion) had been transacted among 360 million users.
Fortunately, these figures are projected to increase with the recent expansion of digital yuan testing in China from a few dozen locations to four entire provinces.
The eCNY is issued directly by China's central bank and does not use blockchain. It has the same value as the analog yuan, and utilizing it is similar to using a mobile payment service or credit card. On the back end, however, money is not routed via a bank and may travel without transaction fees, hopping from one e-wallet to another as readily as cash.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Trisha Kae Andrada
