Digital yuan: Suzhou sets to introduce Chinese CBDC

• The city of Suzhou is reportedly preparing to give away digital yuan to locals.
• Suzhou will become the second region to introduce the CBDC.

The Chinese digital yuan has been under trial for a long time, although no specific data has been declared for the launch. In a recent month, the province of Shenzhen gifted thousands of residents to the digital currency, still under the pilot program. Reports today informed that Suzhou would become the latest city in China that will giveaway the digital currency, precisely by next month.

Suzhou prepares digital yuan giveaway in December

According to the report, the Chinese city is preparing to give out the digital yuan by December through a “red envelope.” The development also comes as a part of the ongoing pilot program for digital currency. The Chinese CBDC will be reportedly launched on December 12 to complement the country’s end-of-the-year shopping event. Several merchants in the city have already installed a near-field communication (NFC) QR code ahead of the launch.

More so, reports noted that provisions have also been made to enable offline payment for the digital currency. Additionally, the payment methods will feature a “touch to pay” function. This means that users can easily process transactions involving digital yuan. The information today is one other development that confirms that the Chinese CBDC may be technically ready for launching.

Chinese CBDC launch is imminent

Notably, there hasn’t been any technical challenge made known to the public since the Shenzhen giveaway. About ten million digital yuan was distributed to the lucky participants. Despite the progress so far, the Chinese authorities are yet to announce a particular data where the digital currency will be made available for the general public. Judging by the developments relating to the CBDC, one can easily predict that the launch of the digital yuan is imminent. 

Recently, the Chinese smartphone maker Huawei said it would support a digital wallet for the CBDC in its latest series of smartphones.