Shenzhen, the major Chinese city, has launched a pilot program to promote the digital yuan with a public giveaway.
It has been reported that in collaboration with the country’s central bank, Shenzhen is planning to distribute a total of 10 million digital yuan ($1.5 million), China’s central bank digital currency.
However, the giveaway pilot will be funded by Shenzhen’s Luohu District, as the giveaway money will be reportedly distributed to 50,000 recipients through a lottery.
The report said that Shenzhen residents had been started applying online to participate in the giveaway on October 9. Each “gift” had been worth 200 renminbi and spent started from October 12 and till October 18 at any of 3,389 merchants in Shenzhen’s Luohu District.
Chinese Shenzhen to distribute 10 million yuan to the public through the country’s #CBDC initiative, the digital yuan https://t.co/oCgiATZnzv — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) October 9, 2020
According to the rules of use, gift money cannot be transferred to another person or redeemed in one’s own bank account. The unused amount will be reportedly taken back from winners after October 18 if it is not spent.
Also, the report said that the new pilot is part of the Chinese government’s plans to promote digital yuan to the public. Also known as the digital currency electronic payment (DCEP), the digital yuan project piloted in China in April 2020.
It is currently being tested in nine cities including Shenzhen, Guangzhou, as well as Hong Kong and Macau.
Thus, China’s central bank opened 113,300 personal digital wallets and 8,859 corporate digital wallets within the digital yuan initiative.
Source: Cointelegraph