Beijing, China says it will introduce “new digital yuan application scenarios” and wants to take the lead in adopting central bank digital currency (CBDC).
for him stock timesthe comments were made by Zhao Wei Jiu, deputy director of the Beijing Local Financial Administration and Supervision Office.
Zhao was speaking at an event called the Digital Finance Forum of the Global Digital Economy Conference.
He claimed that Beijing intended to help the “digital transformation of the financial industry.”
Zhao said that “as a national financial management center,” the Chinese capital “attaches great importance to the development of digital finance” and wants to “promote the pilot application of the digital yuan in more arenas.”
He also spoke of the capital’s intention to “continue promoting mobile payment solutions.”
Beijing has played a key role in the CBDC pilot so far and showcased the currency to the world for the first time during the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The capital is also a driving force in boosting the nation’s digital economy, with e-CNY seen as the key component of the initiative.
Zhao spoke of the need to “coordinate development efforts” with other cities’ e-CNY adoption efforts.
And he said the capital would “explore further applications of digital technology in inclusive finance.”
He said the city would also go ahead with the development of cross-border financial services.
The city says its “digital economy” already accounts for “more than 40%” of its financial output, and its fast-growing financial industry accounts for “more than 20%.”
Beijing is not the only Chinese city aiming to adopt the digital yuan
Despite the capital’s e-CNY ambitions, the spotlight is likely to shift away from the capital later this year when the city of Hangzhou hosts the Asian Games.
Hangzhou has already prepared a series of exhibition events related to the digital yuan.
And Wenzhounet (via 66WZ) reported that more than 10 of the designated hotels that will accommodate athletes, fans and coaches already accept digital payments in yuan.
Several nearby cities that will also host Asian Games events have also stepped up their own adoption efforts.
Wenzhou, which will host the Games’ dragon boat races, says its own hotels, transport networks and major merchants accept electronic payments in CNY.
The city said a total of 165,100 yuan corporate digital wallets have been opened in Wenzhou so far, as well as 4,371,200 personal CBDC wallets.
