HAIKOU, February 14. /TASS/. At least 10.46 million digital yuan accounts have been opened in the southern Chinese province of Hainan. This was reported by the Hainan Phabu news portal.
According to its data, another 647,500 such wallets in the region have been issued to companies and enterprises.
As the portal notes, it is currently possible to pay using the pilot digital currency in almost 350 thousand places, in addition, more than 120 thousand retail outlets across the province support this form of payment.
The digital yuan is electronic money issued centrally by the People's Bank of China. They cost the same as ordinary Chinese paper banknotes. According to the plans of the Central Bank of China, over time, the digital yuan should replace some of the cash in circulation.
So far, it is only possible to pay with this currency in certain places in China. Since the end of 2019, the digital yuan has been tested in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu, Beijing and the Xiongnan New Economic Zone near Beijing. In October 2020, Chinese authorities added the cities of Shanghai, Changsha, Xi'an, Qingdao, Dalian and Hainan province.