China's central bank has launched trial versions of its digital yuan wallet application on mobile phone app stores, as the country's central bank intensifies its efforts to build its own digital currency.
China has been at the forefront of the race to develop a sovereign digital currency, with its digital yuan reaching tens of millions of users since mass testing began in late 2019.
The wallet will be available as an Android and iPhone application. The launch, which took place in Shanghai earlier today, is now available for download on Chinese smartphone stores.
According to a note in the app, the service is now in the research and development phase and is only available to chosen users through sponsored institutions that offer e-CNY services, including major domestic banks.
In November of last year, PBoC Governor Yi Gang stated that China would continue to advance the CBDC's development. Gang indicated that the digital money would be enhanced in terms of design, interoperability and functionality with existing payment methods.
Previously only accessible via links supplied by local governments or QR codes sent by banks that had accepted a user's request to use the app, the app was developed by the People's Bank of China's Digital Currency Institute.
China has long been opposed to digital currencies, and the government's campaign culminated in September 2021 with the imposition of an expanded prohibition on these assets.
The study for the e-CNY began in 2014. However, its trial testing unfurled in 2020, with the bank collaborating with companies such as DiDi Chuxing and JD.com.
In August 2020, the bank announced its intention to launch a pilot program for the coin. Additionally, it stated that it was now testing the currency in four large cities and that more major cities will join.
The PBoC formally launched the digital Yuan in 2021. It began by implementing it as a method of salary payment in the Xiong'an New Area in June 2021.
In the same month, the bank announced a $3 million airdrop to 350,000 citizens in a lottery-style distribution. Following this news, individuals began applying to be among the coin's first residents to test it.
By November 2021, the governor of the PBoC revealed that more than 140 million citizens had already established accounts to utilize the coin.
While the digital currency's official launch date has not been declared, China appears to be focusing on assuring the currency's distribution and use during the Beijing Winter Olympics in February.
