China Expands Digital Yuan Trials to More Cities

(Bloomberg) --

China will expand its digital yuan trial to more areas from the current 11 cities and regions, according to the central bank. 

The market's response toward the use of the digital yuan in pilot cities and Winter Olympic venues has been good, and user and transaction scales have both been “growing steadily,”  the People's Bank of China said Saturday following a meeting chaired by Governor Yi Gang.

In the next step to promote the use of digital yuan, the central bank said it will work on privacy protection and crime prevention, and conduct “deep research” of the impact on the country's financial system. 

Trials have taken place in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiong'an, Chengdu, Shanghai, Hainan, Changsha, Xi'an, Qingdao, Dalian and the closed loop of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

China will add Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Huzhou, Shaoxing and Jinhua to the list of trial cities. Beijing and Zhangjiakou, the co-host cities of Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympic Games, will continue to use the digital yuan after trials inside venues of the Games end.

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With assistance from Bloomberg