Chinese City to Pay Salaries ‘100%’ in Digital Yuan – Is CBDC Adoption Accelerating?

CBDC China Digital Yuan
Last updated:
Author
Tim Alper
Author Categories
About Author

Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked...

Last updated:
Why Trust Cryptonews
Cryptonews has covered the cryptocurrency industry topics since 2017, aiming to provide informative insights to our readers. Our journalists and analysts have extensive experience in market analysis and blockchain technologies. We strive to maintain high editorial standards, focusing on factual accuracy and balanced reporting across all areas - from cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects to industry events, products, and technological developments. Our ongoing presence in the industry reflects our commitment to delivering relevant information in the evolving world of digital assets. Read more about Cryptonews
Trees and buildings on the skyline of the Chinese city of Changshu.
Source: spaceneospace/Adobe

A Chinese city wants to pull off a world first – by becoming the first city to pay its employees entirely in a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

The move would be a massive breakthrough for the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) and its digital yuan token.

The Shenzhen Securities Times reported that Changshu, in Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, wants to pay “all of the wages” of both “public officials and the employees of state-owned enterprises” using the CBDC from next month.

Changshu is a satellite city near Suzhou, a much larger urban settlement with some 11 million residents.

Around 1.5 million people live in Changshu and it is expected that if all goes to plan in the city, other parts of the pilot will follow suit.

City authorities also announced that not only civil servants would receive their salaries in digital yuan, but also all “personnel working in state-run institutions, such as public hospitals.”

The digital yuan is already accepted as a payment tool in thousands of stores and outlets throughout the fast-growing pilot zone.

It is also widely used as a payment option in transport networks, as well as toll booths throughout the nation.

Notably, the digital yuan can also be used at most major online outlets, including the Tencent and WeChat ecosystems, JD.com (China’s answer to Amazon), and Alibaba-related companies.

CBDC Adoption: A Rapid Rise in China?

Public sector workers have thus far been the first to get hands-on experience with new CBDC usage cases.

In the early stages of the pilot, public sector workers in selected cities were asked to use the coin to pay their public transport fees.

This first manifested itself on public buses but it has since been expanded to cover entire city-wide metro networks.

Suzhou has often found itself at the heart of developments.

In May 2020, Suzhou’s Xiangcheng District announced that it would start paying “part” of its staff’s monthly wages in digital yuan.

But the Changshu experiment will mark the first time any Chinese public sector workers have received 100% of their salaries in the PBoC’s coin.

In March, the city of Huizhou launched a CBDC tax payment platform, as other cities said they were also exploring similar solutions.

More Articles

Altcoin News
Moscow Keen to Issue Digital Ruble Benefits Payments – Report
Tim Alper
Tim Alper
2025-02-12 04:08:06
Blockchain News
Trump Eyes a16z Crypto Policy Head Brian Quintenz to Lead CFTC: Report
Shalini Nagarajan
Shalini Nagarajan
2025-02-12 04:05:02
Crypto News in numbers
editors
Authors List + 66 More
2M+
Active Monthly Users Around the World
250+
Guides and Reviews Articles
8
Years on the Market
70
International Team Authors