As China gives away virtual red envelopes containing its prototype digital yuan in Beijing and Shanghai to test the currency, Shijingshan, a site for the upcoming Winter Olympics, has started supporting payments made using the state digital money, known as e-CNY.
Fast Facts:
- The western Beijing district of Shijingshan said on Tuesday that more 200 vendors at and around the venues for the 2022 games were now supporting payments made using e-CNY, formerly known by its original project name, DCEP (Digital Currency Electronic Payment).
- Just last week, Beijing announced that it would distribute 200,000 virtual red envelopes, each containing 200 (US$31.30) of digital yuan. Shanghai has announced a similar plan, and is poised to hand out 350,000 virtual red envelopes to people across the city during next week’s Dragon Boat Festival.
- The giveaways are part of China’s nationwide pilot program to further test the digital currency, which has so far been trialed in more than eight cities.