Some civil servants in Suzhou have begun receiving part of their salary in digital currency as pilot programs for the electronic currency expand in China.
The main development of digital currency has been carried out in Shenzhen by the People’s Bank of China, China’s central bank. However, programs to test the digital currency are currently also being implemented in Chengdu, Suzhou, and Xiong’an in northern Hebei province. Nineteen companies in Xiong’an have already begun to pilot it.
The central bank’s digital currency pilot programs are expected to expand later this year or early in 2021. They will focus on retail use and may replace some functions of bank cards.
Once the pilot program is expanded, the digital currency system will have to be able to serve a “hypermarket” with a technology infrastructure processing data from users in a fast and highly secure way. The central bank will coordinate with electronic payment service providers like Alipay and WeChat Pay to promote the new digital RMB.
