China has been running trials for a digital currency. The People's Bank of China is hoping to increase usage of digital currency by launching an e-CNY wallet app. The World Artificial Intelligence Conference is held in Shanghai, China, in 2021.
The pilot version of the wallet app for the digital yuan was launched by the central bank.
The app is available on both Apple and China's app stores. Users can spend the currency in a digital wallet.
The digital yuan or e-CNY is a digital version of China's own currency and has been in the works for a while. The People's Bank of China is the issuer of this coin.
In China, there are a number of trials in the form of lotteries where users in certain cities are given a small amount of digital currency to spend. It has been accepted as payment by some retailers in the past year.
There is no timetable for the roll out of the digital yuan.
The new app is available in 10 areas, including Beijing and Shanghai. Only select users were allowed to use the app. Everyone can now download the app, which shows how China is trying to get more people to use the digital currency.
The Beijing Winter Olympics areas are one of the places where the digital yuan can be used. The Winter Olympics in Beijing this year is one of the events that the People's Bank of China is targeting to bring the digital yuan to.
The e-CNY app will face stiff competition from China's two dominant digital payment apps.
