China’s central bank’s CBDC project, the digital Yuan, appears to be making great strides. It has now reached a milestone of 100 billion Yuan, or about $14 billion in transactions completed during the pilot phase.
Over 360 million transactions completed
Although it is one of the first CBDCs in the world to go live, it does make it the most widely used CBDC in the world. According to China’s central bank, the Bank of China, more than 360 million transactions would have been completed in 15 provinces by the end of the summer. Also, more than 5.6 million shops and web shops would already accept the digital Yuan as a means of payment.
The pilot that is currently being carried out is getting bigger and bigger. For example, it is now being expanded at various state institutions. The central bank reports the following about this:
Multiple e-government service platforms have opened digital renminbi payment services, supporting online and offline channels for handling various payments from public utilities, using digital renminbi to issue tax rebates, special funds for monthly medical insurance payment, funds for helping people in need, and ‘specialized, special and new’ support funds for enterprises, etc.
Project development plans shared
Plans have also been shared by the financial regulator for project development, including the launch of cross-border payments between Hong Kong and mainland China. They also want to explore the multilateral cross-border option in collaboration with the Bank for International Settlement and follow the principle of “small quantity anonymity and large quantity traceability” to protect the user’s personal data.
In April of 2020, the first digital Yuan trials were done. The Chinese bank’s goal here is to eventually replace cash with a digital version of it. Later on, these tests were expanded to several provinces in the country. It is not yet known exactly when the official version will launch, although in principle you can already pay with it.
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