Chinese City of Suzhou Aims to Transact $297bn Worth of Digital Yuan in 2023

The city of Suzhou, in China, hopes its residents and local firms will transact a cumulative total of around $297 billion worth of the central bank’s digital yuan token this year.

Per Shanghai Securities News, the city – one of the most populous and wealthiest in China – has unveiled a new plan for its digtal yuan adoption drive. The plan includes a range of goals that it hopes to meet by 2025.

The city explained that it wants to ensure the city’s cumulative transactions volume increases sixfold before the year is out.

And the city said that individuals and companies in the city transacted a total of around $50.5 billion in 2022.

Among the city’s ambitious goals include plants to of process some $30 billion worth of digital yuan-powered loans for the city’s small- and medium-sized enterprises before the end of the year.

The city unveiled its plan at a special ceremony, in front of several high-ranking central government officials .

The city stated that over 30.54 million people in Suzhou had downloaded e-CNY wallets in 2022.

It also claimed that almost a million Suzhou-based companies and government organs have begun accepting digital yuan payments.

Chinese Cities Set Ambitious Digital Yuan Targets

The plan also detailed the city’s intention to boost its blockchain technology and Web3 credentials.

At present, fewer than 400 local firms specialize in digital finance, blockchain technology, and similar fields. But Suzhou officials said they wanted to foster startups to boost this number to 1,000 by 2025.

Chinese cities appear to be attempting to outdo each other in their digital yuan adoption drives – and attempting to exhibit their zeal for the coin. Earlier this week, Changsha, in Hunan Province, claimed that over 300,000 stores and vendors in the city now accept digital yuan payment.

Seventeen cities have already been included in the pilot zone, with some expecting more to be added in the coming months. The city of Wuhan has been named as a possible candidate in recent weeks.