PBoC head says China’s digital yuan pilots processed $300M so far. More information about the country’s ongoing digital currency pilot have been issued by the governor of China’s central bank.
Yi Gang, governor of the People’s Bank of China, said that over four million transactions have been processed by digital yuan pilots to date, totalling more than 2 billion yuan ($299 million). At the Hong Kong Fintech Week conference on Nov. 2, the official delivered his new remarks, Bloomberg posted.
According to Yi, the pilots have been running smoothly so far, having rolled out for extended testing in four cities. Growth in demand for digital and contactless payment methods amid the coronavirus pandemic have posed major challenges for central banks, as they try to juggle user security with convenience, Yi said.
In terms of developing a customer base and managing risks, the official noted that fintech firms have some primary advantages over commercial banks. The first pilots for its forthcoming digital yuan were launched in April 2020 by PBoC. Four major cities were officially included in the initial trial: Shenzhen, Chengdu, Suzhou and Xiongan. It is announced that the programme has been extended to nine cities, including Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau.
In early October, the PBoC officially announced that the digital yuan wallets processed $162 million in transactions between April and August 2020.
[image: Zhang Kaiyv]
