Apart from JD.com, Chinese video-sharing website BiliBili and transport company Didi have also started working with digital yuan.
Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com recently paid some of its employees with the digital yuan. Using the country’s digital currency to pay the employees is part of the People’s Bank of China’s (PBoC) plan to broaden the scope of the digital yuan.
JD.com announced its cooperation with the PBoC on the trial of digital currencies on the 25th of April. In a blog post, the company noted that it paid its employees salaries with digital yuan in January. Apart from paying employees with the digital yuan, JD.com said it makes payments to other businesses using digital currency.
Before now, the deputy governor of PBoC, Li Bo, had said that the PBoC would be exploring ways to expand the trials for the DC/EP. An official of the bank revealed that China is planning to test the digital yuan with international users. The bank executive added that China is working on making it possible for foreign athletes and visitors to use the digital yuan at the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics.
Apart from JD.com, Chinese video-sharing website BiliBili and transport company Didi have also started working with digital yuan and accepting digital currencies as payment forms.
PBoC Says Digital Yuan Will Not Replace Cash
Notably, several central banks all over the world have been working on creating their digital currencies. Over the past years, several countries have undergone research, trials, and testing phases regarding digital currencies. At the same time, there has been an argument on the stance of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Some argue whether CBDCs will take over or co-exist fiat currencies. However, PBoC has assured that the digital yuan is not coming to replace fiat currencies.
“For the internationalization of renminbi, we have said many times that it’s a natural process and our goal is not to replace (the) U.S dollar or any other international currency. I think our goal is to allow the market to choose and to facilitate international trade and investment.”
The creation of the CBDCs among countries includes China, who started developing digital currency/electronic payment (DC/EP) in 2014. The Chinese digital yuan is aimed at domestic use and seeks to replace coins and cash in existence.
In addition, the PBoC has conducted a series of trials with residents of Shenzhen and Beijing as participants. China rolled out digital currency worth 10 million yuan to 500,000 residents in October 2020. Although China is yet to officially launch the digital yuan, trials of the currency have been conducted in major cities across the country. China managed the pilot projects by giving lotteries to residents and spending their digital yuan at selected retailers, including JD.com.
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