Chinese City’s Civil Servants To Be Paid in Digital Yuan in May

The civil servants of the Chinese city of Changshu will get their May salaries in digital yuan, according to a notice issued by financial authorities in the city.

The notice said that all civil servants, including those in state-owned units, public service, and public institutions at all levels, would be paid in digital yuan starting from the next month, according to Cointelegraph.

In addition, the civil servants have the option to opt for digital yuan settlements through self-service terminals.

Images from Chinese stores show QR codes through which citizens can pay for their goods using digital currency after scanning the code.

Earlier, the Jiangsu province, where Changshu is located, launched a pilot program for the digital yuan in the first quarter of this year with the goal to set up an efficient, convenient operation and management system by 2025.

Also, Xuzhoum which is located in the same province and considered the starting point of many European-bound freight trains from China, will promote the use of the digital yuan.

During the Spring Festival holidays, Chinese cities, such as Lianyungang, Jinan, and Shenzhen, launched nearly 200 digital yuan activities worth more than 180 million yuan ($26.6 million) to promote its usage.

The activities included consumption coupons, subsidies, and other programs in a move by the authorities to encourage the mass adoption of digital yuan, known as e-CNY, during one of the largest holidays in the country.

The total number of digital yuan wallets in the Asian country reached 140 million at the end of 2021, 10 million of which were corporate accounts, with transactions recording about $10 billion.

By the beginning of 2022, the total number had increased, reaching 261 million individual digital yuan wallets, while transactions grew to $13.8 billion.