More Chinese Cities Adopt Digital Yuan for Public Utility

Xiamen and Guangzhou have become the latest cities to embrace the digital yuan for utility in their cities. A local news outlet reports that the digital yuan will be accepted for payment on the Guangzhou city tram. Likewise, it will be usable in recharging Xiamen’s city public transport card.

Following the announcement, Xiamen and Guangzhou have become the latest cities to join the 12 metropolitan cities that started the pilot test. Recall that the PBoC launched the digital yuan in January across 12 cities. The app quickly became one of the most downloaded apps in China. Subsequently, it was available for use during the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February 2022.

Last month, the PBoC said it was trialing the CBDC in 11 additional states. There are suggestions the stepwise announcements herald a phased adoption by the Chinese government to test the usage of CBDC across the board. This is even as the country prepares to launch the CBDC fully at a yet-to-be-announced time.

Digital Yuan Rollout on Transportation Networks

Now, Guangzhou residents who use the Haizhu Tram Line 1 can pay their fares by scanning a QR code at the ticketing gate through the yuan wallet. According to the report, there are more than a dozen such orders daily. Also, the Guangzhou Tramway Company is planning a publicity campaign to attract even more users to the new payment system.

Back in Xiamen, you can now pay in digital currency to use the buses and subways. Passengers with the city’s electronic transportation cards for either the Xiamen Bus or Xiamen Metro can easily use the digital yuan to pre-load their cards. Making payment through QR codes will also be possible.

To encourage adoption, payments for subway rides from the digital yuan wallet will attract a 10% discount until June 5. There are also plans for password-free payment and swiping through the digital yuan wallet app.

The usage of the digital yuan is well on its way to exceeding that of 2021. At the end of 2021, the volume of transactions for the year was just over $13.8 billion. Just this year, transaction volumes have already surpassed $11 billion. The digital wallet also exceeded 261 million unique users.

With two other Asian games around the corner, it remains to be seen just how far the adoption of the CBDC will go before the main launch.