The Chinese city of Suzhou has unveiled a new plan to promote the digital yuan (e-CNY) adoption seeking to transact about $297 billion worth of the central bank’s currency in 2023.
The city authorities aim to achieve the goal from digital yuan transactions involving both residents and enterprises, with the targetted value projected to grow sixfold, local Chinese media outlet Shanghai Securities News reported on February 2.
As of 2022, residents and companies in the populous city reportedly transacted about $50.5 billion in digital yuan.
According to the publication, under the new plan dubbed “Suzhou Three-Year Action Plan for the Development of Digital Finance Industry (2023-2025)”, the city aims to process about $30 billion worth of digital yuan-powered loans for small and medium enterprises in 2023.
Furthermore, the city alleged that over 30 million residents downloaded e-CNY wallets in 2022, and another one million companies and government entities are accepting payments in the central bank’s digital currency.
The city’s ambitious plan compliments the government’s recent efforts to popularise the digital yuan after years of development and research. As reported by Finbold, the government of Shenzhen planned to offer citizens 15 million in digital yuan in its CBDC giveaway back in April.
Furthermore, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) believes the digital yuan can promote interconnection between the currency and conventional e-payment technologies. In this case, the institution noted a need for more regulations to help use the digital yuan. Currently, over 15 cities are actively exploring the mass implementation of e-CNY.
In the meantime, there is growing evidence regarding the digital yuan in use cases such as payments. For instance, the country’s leading online retailers recorded a spike in users paying through the digital yuan during the Chinese new year.
