As China leads way for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the nation is creating milestones everyday. Notably, the region has recorded a significant number of wallets being opened signaling at increasing adoption.
According to local media reports, the Chinese city of Shenzhen claims that its residents have opened almost 36 million digital Yuan wallets marking a new achievement for the CBDC adoption. Sources reveal that the claims were made by the Shenzhen branch of the central People’s Bank of China (PBoC).
In media interaction, the PBoC stated that “as of the end of June 2023,” Shenzhen-based individuals and companies had “opened more than 35.94 million digital Yuan wallets.” The bank added that this figure marks “an increase of 7.6 million” wallets since the beginning of the year.
Reportedly, the city claims that “more than 2.1 million merchants” based in the city now accept payment in digital Yuan. To this, the central bank claimed that the CBDC had now “found its way” into “the homes of ordinary people.” Additionally, the PBoC’s Shenzhen branch claimed that it was now targeting more digital Yuan adoption progress.
The central bank stated that it would look to “promote the application” of the digital Yuan in “prepaid operations,” as well as “supply chain finance.” While concluding, the bank vowed to seek to find new ways to drive up “cross-border e-CNY spending” between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Ever since the Chinese central bank opened its CBDC for usage among masses, the nation has been taking various steps to foster the adoption. To make the concept more comfortable and accessible, the authorities announced huge giveaways alongside other significant incentives.
After the Chinese central bank launched a trial version of the digital Yuan app in 2022, the nation included digital Yuan in its Belt and Road Initiative and cross-border trades. These moves aim to increase CBDC adoption and extend digital Yuan usage to pay taxes and utility services in the country.
Similarly, Jinan, capital of Shandong Province, announced all of its bus routes to accept payments in the form of the CBDCs. To do so, passengers simply need to download the digital yuan app, deposit funds and scan the QR code in the bus payment section to pay for their ride. Along with other ways like giveaways etc., Changshu, a city in Jiangsu Province, decided to hand salary to civil servants in digital Yuan from May 2023.
While the online payments and shopping applications have integrated CBDC option, the authorities are focused on creating an offline CBDC. As reported by Todayq News, the BoC plans to enable users to make phone payments by integrating its digital Yuan app with specialized “super SIM cards” with near-field communication capabilities.