Changshu, a city in China’s Jiangsu Province, will begin paying its government workers in digital yuan beginning in May as the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) becomes more widely used.
The latest news around the use of the digital yuan and government employees comes from the Communist Party of China’s publication, People’s Daily report on April 24.
State-run schools, hospitals, and media outlets are just some of the public institutions that would be affected by the policy shift.
At least 26 provinces and cities in China are testing out the digital yuan, also known as e-CNY, as part of China’s CBDC initiative. At least 105 mobile apps, ranging from e-commerce to the purchase of gasoline and natural gas, accept digital currency, which has been incorporated into Alipay and WeChat Pay, the two most popular third-party payment systems in China.
Changshu civil servants to use CBDC
Changshu, with a population of 1.5 million, was one of the first locations to offer digital yuan subsidies to state personnel in October 2022, making it one of the leading trial areas for the currency.
Notably, salaries in digital yuan have been issued in other Chinese cities besides Changshu. According to a local government report, the first public institution workers in China began receiving their salaries in digital yuan as early as June 2022 in Taicang, another country-level city under Suzhou.
Multiple programs have been launched by the Chinese government to spread awareness about China’s CBDC. According to a February local media, Shenzhen, the country’s southern metropolis with a population of over 17 million in 2021, had over 28 million digital yuan wallets by the end of 2022 and gave out more than 570 million yuan ($82.58 million) in consumer subsidies in 2022.
