US food and beverage chain operators McDonald's, Subway, and Starbucks have reportedly joined China's pilot program to test out its new sovereign digital currency. The People's Bank of China (PBOC), China's central bank, included the names of the US companies in its list of firms that will participate in the initial tests of its so-called digital renminbi.
The three US chain operators will be joining a group of 19 local and international businesses in the pilot program, which will involve small transactions. The companies involved in the test include hotels, bakeshops, convenience stores, a bookstore, and a gym. The details of the pilot program were unveiled during a promotion event held at the Xion'an New Area just south of Beijing.
The event, held on Wednesday, was co-organized by the National Development and Reform Commission. Representatives from China's four major state-owned banks along with representatives from Alibaba and Tencent had attended the event.
The pilot program marks the expanded testing of the PBOC's proposed digital currency, which has been in development for years. The test also following a similar program revealed by the bank last week, where it used the digital currency to pay for the travel subsidies of public sector workers.
China has been ramping up the development of its sovereign digital currency following news of Facebook's accelerated plans for its Libra project. China has yet to formally announced an exact timetable for the release of its digital yuan, but based on the consecutively conducted tests, its release could be coming sooner rather than later.
Speculation regarding the imminent release of the digital currency, as Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP), had increased last week after a screenshot of the currency's accompanying app developed by the Agricultural Bank of China had circulated online. Similar to apps offered by other online payment platforms such as WeChat Pay and Alipay, the new DCEP app will allow users to make and receive payment as well as transfer money to other digital wallets.
Analysts from investment firm BlockVC have speculated that the DCEP app may be in the final testing stage and it could be launched in the next few months. Last week, the PBOC had confirmed that it was conducting major tests in four major cities, namely in Suzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Xiong'an. The city of Zhangjiakou will reportedly also be joining the test in the coming weeks. The PBOC had also confirmed that it was conducting simulations for the use of the digital currency during the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
