The digital yuan has been used to make 360m transactions worth a total of more than 100bn yuan (US$14bn) since China began piloting the central bank digital currency (CBDC) in December 2019, up from total cumulative transaction values worth 87.6bn yuan (US$12bn) at the end of 2021, according to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC).

The central bank also reports that more than 160 cross-border and foreign exchange transactions worth 150m yuan (US$21m) were carried out during a recently completed m-CBDC Bridge project trial with Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates, and that more than 5.6m merchants across 15 provinces and municipalities piloting the CBDC on China’s mainland can now accept digital yuan payments.

To date, the digital yuan has been used “mainly for domestic retail payments, but will be promoted for use in corporate and personal business, as well as in finance, taxation and government affairs”, according to a Reuters report.

The PBOC also “vowed to connect the e-CNY system with the traditional digital payment system, dominated by Alibaba Group’s Alipay and Tencent Holding’s WeChat Pay, to make it more convenient for consumers and merchants”, Reuters says.

A survey in June revealed that one in five consumers have now downloaded China’s digital currency app.

Next: Visit the NFCW Expo to find new suppliers and solutions