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Beijing- Over the weekend, the municipal government announced that China’s capital city Beijing is planning to hand out about $1.5, million at a limited trail of the central bank’s digital currency.
The third major test of the digital currency under development by the People’s Bank of China. In the last few months, the cities of Shenzhen and Suzhou held similar experiments. In this trial, Beijing said that it will select almost 50,000 from a pool of applicants for receiving 200 yuan, or about $30 each, in the digital currency. During the upcoming Lunar New Year Holiday, recipients are spending the money at designated offline locations or on parts of the e-commerce site JD.com.
However, the vouchers are valid from 10th Feb to 17th Feb. However, the digital currency test is open for those with a Chinese ID number, or residence permits from Hong Kong, Macao, or Taiwan.
Currently, The People’s Bank of China is now developing a digital currency that is expected to work in a similar way to transact through existing payment apps. Mobile pay, primarily through the Alibaba-affiliated Alipay app and Tencent’s Wechat pay that has replaced the cash in the last several years as a predominant form of consumer payment in China.
