Photo taken on Oct. 12, 2020 shows a sign reminding customers that digital yuan is accepted at a supermarket in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Wu Yanting)
BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Several Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Shenzhen and Xi'an, recently announced the launch of a new round of digital renminbi (RMB) pilot programs.
Suzhou city in east China's Jiangsu Province distributed nearly 10 million yuan of digital currency to consumers via lottery in virtual red envelopes, each worth 55 yuan, in a shopping festival jointly launched with Shanghai to spur consumption.
Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration announced on April 28 its plan to encourage more pilot use of the e-money in winter sports-related activities in order to facilitate the creation of a digital RMB acceptance environment for the upcoming Winter Olympics in 2022.
The application scenarios of digital RMB are further enriched in the recent trials. The tourist cities of Qingdao and Dalian as well as the island province of Hainan have experimented with digital RMB in ticket-buying in some scenic spots.
As a pilot area of digital RMB, Hainan has also tested the use of digital RMB as the payment currency in offshore duty-free shopping.
In terms of pilot mode innovation, Luohu District of Shenzhen mounted a special campaign in April. Rather than issuing red envelopes in conventional practice, the campaign offered additional discounts to consumers who used digital currency to buy products and services at designated merchants. The value of discounts offered in the campaign amounted to 10 million yuan.
Yanta District of Xi'an stood out by issuing red envelopes of digital RMB to about 10,000 medical staff and volunteers who help with epidemic prevention, with each of the virtual envelopes containing 100 yuan. This marks the first activity in this round of trials to grant consumption red envelopes to specific groups. (Edited by Su Dan with Xinhua Silk Road, sudan@xinhua.org)
A single purchase
