The Bank of China reported that the number of transactions made in 15 provinces under the CBDC pilot framework had surpassed 360 million by the end of the summer.
About $14 billion, or 100.04 billion yuan, during its pilot phase.
It makes digital yuan, often known as e-CNY, the most frequently used CBDC in the world.
As the BoC reported in its official WeChat post on Oct. 10, the number of transactions made in 15 provinces under the CBDC pilot framework had surpassed 360 million by the end of the summer. As per the post, more than 5.6 million merchant stores currently accept digital yuan as legal currency.
The pilot is also being expanded among several governmental organizations, and it covers a wide spectrum of citizen payments:
“Several e-government service portals now accept digital RMB payments. The platform supports both online and offline channels for handling various public utility payments, as well as using digital renminbi to issue tax rebate funds, special funds for monthly medical insurance payments, funds for assisting people in need, and 'specialized, special, and new' enterprise support funds, etc.”
The financial regulator revealed its project development goals, which include the introduction of cross-border payments between Hong Kong and mainland China. Also, to actively explore the multilateral cross-border alternative in partnership with the Bank for International Settlements, and to adhere to the idea of anonymity for small amounts and traceability for large amounts in order to preserve the user's personal data.
With the launch of its first CBDC trials in April 2020, China's central bank hopes to eventually replace cash with digital yuan. In September 2022, it revealed intentions to expand the implementation of the e-CNY to four provinces, including Guangdong (earlier, the pilot ran only in separate cities).
Interestingly, the Bank of China recorded roughly $13 billion (87.5 billion yuan) in transactions by January 2022 — with the recent update, this might suggest that the total amount of new transactions in the past seven months did not surpass $1 billion.
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