According to numerous sources, China formally launched the second phase of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot test programme on Tuesday, reported Cointelegraph.
As per Cointelegraph, it is now possible to pay for public transportation using the digital yuan (e-CNY) CBDC on 10 transit routes in the city of Guanzhou, which is a first for the nation. Passengers can do this by downloading the e-CNY app, making a deposit, and paying for their travel by scanning the QR code found in the bus payment area.
Ningbo is the ninth Chinese city to introduce the e-CNY pilot test in its subway lines, allowing users to pay for their trips by just scanning their tickets.
This year, the e-functionality CNY’s has significantly increased. In the city of Guangzhou, it was recently made feasible to use the CBDC to make employee housing fund contributions. The government collaborated with the food delivery industry’s Meituan and the e-commerce platform JDcom to develop e-CNY air-drops that can be redeemed at designated locations in an effort to boost consumer spending in the face of stringent coronavirus lockdowns, Cointelegraph noted.
Over 6 million unique users had used e-CNY cash to order services on Meituan as of its most recent statistics update, which was dated June 20. Since recognising the e-CNY as legal cash in May, JDcom reported processing more over 4 million e-commerce transactions totaling an estimated 900 million CNY ($131.6 million). In the first five months of 2022, there were 830 billion ($121.4 billion) worth of e-CNY transactions
