Jinan, the capital of eastern China’s Shandong province, is introducing Yuan digital payments on all its bus routes. With this, they want to boost the adoption of the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Passengers can pay with CBDC in the province
During the pilot phase, the city tested CBDC payments on 2 bus lines, but after a successful trial period, Jinan announced that the new payment method is now available on the entire bus network in their region.
According to local mediaincluding Shunwang-Jinan Daily, the city of Jinan recently updated all card readers and bus route software so that passengers can now pay with the province’s CBDC.
To further promote the use of the digital Yuan, the city is also offering fare discounts to passengers who choose the CBDC payment method. According to the announcement, individuals can get up to 2 discounted rides per day and up to 6 discounted rides per month if they choose to pay with the digital Yuan.
Attempts at better acceptance are being made
This move is part of a wider effort to boost adoption of the digital Yuan in China. On April 23, the Chinese city of Changshu announced that it would start paying civil servants’ salaries with the digital Yuan. According to the announcement, all levels of staff in civil service, public institutions and state-owned enterprises would be paid in the country’s CBDC from May.
In addition to bus rides and civil servant salaries, the country has also implemented its CBDC for the Belt and Road initiative and cross-border trade. On April 24, a plan was announced in the Chinese city of Xuzhou to promote CBDC in the context of cross-border trade. Xuzhou serves as the departure point for trains transporting goods to Europe.
