Digital Yuan Pilot to be Launched by China’s Central Bank
The central bank of China is finally planning to launch a test pilot of their Digital Yuan. China’s Digital Yuan will be the first launch test in the mainstream of a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Caijing a local chinese news outlets made a report on December 9th about the initial launch. Stating the pilot for the CBDC Digital Yuan is set to be launched in the city of Shenzhen. The pilot will begin before the end of 2019, and possibly may also include the city of Suzhou.
Banks begin race to digital currencies
Following the promising aspects of China’s central bank, many other banks plan to follow suit. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC), along with four major banks will test digital currency payments. Other major companies such as China Telecom have also stated interest in this field.
Caujing explained: “One step will be to rationally select the pilot verification area, scenario and service scope, and steadily promote the introduction and application of digital form of fiat currency,”.
“Compared with the previous pilot, this time the central bank’s legal digital currency pilot will go out of the central bank system and enter real service scenarios such as transportation, education, and medical treatment, reaching C-end users and generating frequent applications.”
The PBoC in the city of Shenzhen are encouraging each bank to try and manage the digital currency differently. The goal is for the companies competing against each other, thus securing broader adoption in the future. As well as adding that other local businesses could be included in the testing. Although exact details in this regard remain unspecified.
China: The first to digital currency
The pilot of Digital Yuan will make the PBoC the first central bank in the world to issue a digital currency. Allowing China to capitalize on their efforts to embrace financial technology this year.
The Digital Yuan currency has been reportedly under development for several years. Adding that the digital yuan had already been at advanced stages back in October. When Beijing officially endorsed the use of blockchain technology.
