As per the report from the PBOC’s deputy governor Fan Yi Fei at the SWIFT-organized virtual conference Sibos 2020, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) processed 3.13 million transactions in China’s digital yuan, formally known as Digital Currency Electronic Payment ( DC/EP) at the end of August 2020.
As of this writing, PBOC processed 1.1 billion yuan (~ $ 162 million) worth of digital currency in pilot transactions.
The fan also confirmed the following:
“The pilot programs were running in major cities, including Shenzhen and Xiongan, and have made positive progress. Pilots will also be conducted at the coming Winter Olympics in 2022.”
Additionally, 6,700 yuan digital use cases have been tested, including bill payment, transportation, and government services.
Fan shared:
“The government has also used digital yuan red packets to reward about 5,000 medical workers involved in coronavirus treatment.”
These red packets can reportedly be used at select merchants in the Luohu city.
Fan said:
“PBOC regards digital renminbi as an important financial infrastructure for the future.”
There are over 113,300 personal digital wallets, and about 8,800 corporate digital wallets are opened as part of test transactions.
The above revelations show that the central bank digital currency DC / EP will be officially coming soon. China began researching digital currencies in 2014, ahead of other major global economies, including the US and the EU, which have only recently started initiatives.
Last week, the European Central Bank released a comprehensive report on the digital euro, saying it needs to be prepared to issue a digital currency if and when there is a need. The US Federal Reserve has also been working on digital currencies and some Federal banks in the region.
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