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First car bought with digital yuan in Hainan

A woman named Chen bought a car powered by new energy sources in Qionghai City

HAIKOU, October 25. /TASS/. The first digital yuan car deal in the southern Chinese province of Hainan was completed at the end of October, the Hainan Daily reports.

According to the newspaper, a woman surnamed Chen purchased a car that runs on new energy sources in the city of Qionghai. "The transaction was complete in under five seconds from the moment Chen scanned the special code," the newspaper noted.

It was noted that the deal was supported by the Science, Industry and Informatization Department of Qionghai City, as well as the regional offices of the People's Bank (central bank) and the Bank of China.

According to a representative of the car dealer, buyers can now use the digital yuan to make advanced payment, down payment or rental payment for a vehicle. He said it increases the speed and security of such transactions.

The PRC began introducing national virtual currency in late 2019. The digital yuan is electronic money issued centrally by the People's Bank of China. They cost the same as regular Chinese paper banknotes. According to the plans of the country's central bank, over time, the digital yuan should replace some of the cash in circulation.

So far, it is only possible to use this currency in a limited number of places in China. Since the end of 2019, the digital yuan has been tested in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu, Beijing and the Xiong’an New Economic Zone near Beijing. In October 2020, Chinese authorities added the cities of Shanghai, Changsha, Xi'an, Qingdao, Dalian and Hainan province. The digital yuan is currently available to a limited number of users: about 20.9 million private and 3.5 million corporate wallets had been opened by the end of June, and the total volume of transactions was 34.5 billion yuan (about $5.3 billion). It is planned that during the Winter Olympics in February 2022, athletes and guests will be able to pay with digital yuan.

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