According to the local media CLS report, Chinese ride-hailing giant DiDi, Tencent-backed food delivery app Meituan and video streaming platform Bilibili are also supporting the $3 million digital yuan test in the city of Suzhou. The report revealed that the lottery-winners in Suzhou could spend their free digital yuan on DiDi’s ride-hailing service or Meituan’s bike-sharing service if they choose to activate their DC/EP wallets with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
Suzhou government is distributing 20 million yuan in digital to local residents.
If users activate their DC/EP wallets with the Bank of China, they can spend the digital yuan on Bilibili, which is best known for offering premium animation video content to subscribers. Suzhou’s city government announced last week it is distributing 20 million yuan, or $3 million, in the form of a digital Renminbi to local residents via a lottery. In an effort to boost domestic consumption during the annual Double 12 online shopping festival, the test is on a much larger scale than the first one conducted in Shenzhen in October.
Central banks continue to explore CBDCs.
The People’s Bank of China has been working on the national digital currency for the last five to six years and is now very close to issuing it to the general public. China has won the race of fast tracking national digital currency as other major countries are still exploring the idea of having a CBDC. However, some smaller countries have already issued their national digital currency. As reported earlier, the Cayman island launched a national digital currency this year. Central banks of Canada, Japan, the Philippines, and many others are actively exploring CBDCs. Central banks across countries are now actively exploring central bank digital currencies and making plans for real-world testing.
