While China has maintained a strict stance against the growth of the crypto sector, the country is harnessing the power of blockchain to bolster its economy. The country’s national CBDC, codenamed e-CNY, is now being tested in densely populated areas of the country, including the most populous province of Guangdong. Jiangsu, Hebei and Sichuan are other areas where the Chinese government will now test its CBDCs.
A CBDC or central bank digital currency is like a cryptocurrency, but one that is administered by a central bank and government. Built on the blockchain, CBDCs are able to facilitate instant payments across national as well as cross-border. China’s CBDC is also known as the Digital Yuan.
Fan Yifei, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), disclosed this e-CNY trial expansion plan at a financial forum in Jiangsu’s Suzhou city. south china morning post,
China’s central bank has been working on its CBDC for the past two years.
Between 2020 and 2022, China launched its e-CNY app to facilitate payments through CBDCs. As of April 2022, people in 23 cities across China, including Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, were able to pay for goods and services with e-CNY. china briefing Said at that time.
Cash rewards were offered to Chinese citizens adopting and using the digital yuan. While many merchants have opened up payments in e-CNY, the digital currency is also being tested to function for loan payments as well as tax payments.
China’s roll-out of its own digital currency has outpaced the efforts of other major central banks such as the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan.
Currently, China’s neighbors India and Russia are also working to launch their respective CBDCs.
Nigeria has emerged as one of the first countries to develop and launch a digital currency.
Launched in October last year as Africa’s first CBDC, eNaira is now getting new features aimed at bringing unbanked citizens of Nigeria into the country’s existing financial system. The Nigerian government is targeting more than eight million people to adopt e-naira as a payment method in the coming months.
