China’s Fujian Province Has Processed $22bn Worth of Digital Yuan – Are CBDCs Taking Over?

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper

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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...

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June 26, 2023

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Residents and firms based in China’s Fujian Province have reportedly processed almost $22 billion worth of digital yuan transactions to date – as the nation’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) continues to gather pace.

The province was added to the CBDC pilot zone last year. And it broke ground in October when it conducted the nation’s first digital yuan-powered land transfer deal.

Per Fujin News, official figures from the province show that citizens’ digital yuan commercial spending has hit the $14.5 million mark. 

It also explained that it – and its partners – had handed out almost $9 million worth of digital yuan tokens in promotional events.

A combined total of 2,572 merchants and vendors in the province now accept digital yuan payments, the media outlet added. 

This number includes toll booths on the Fuxia (Fujian-Xiamen) Expressway – a major network of highways that passes through the province.

A growing number of toll booths in China now allow drivers to use the CBDC to pay highway fees.

And the province said that e-CNY “tax payment points” have been installed in unmanned “electronic tax bureaus” and banks throughout the region.

It claimed that citizens and firms had used these and other solutions to pay $254 million worth of taxes in the past 12 months.

And since the first e-CNY-powered land deal in October, 74 more properties have been traded for digital yuan.

China’s Fujian Processes Almost $22bn in Digital Yuan – What Are its Future Plans?

Fujian stated that, as of November last year, the province had begun issuing digital yuan relief loans to local businesses. 

It is also using the token to purchase carbon sinks as part of environmental improvement efforts.

The province claimed that it had overseen 14,700 e-CNY carbon sink payments since it began the program.

Going forward, Fujian said that it would look to make more headway with digital yuan adoption. 

The province said that it would be “focusing on” using the CBDC in “smart contracts and supply chain financing.”

The central bank, meanwhile, is hoping that the token will prove its worth in ongoing “cross-border” pilots in Macau and Hong Kong.