In a recent development, workers in China’s Xiong’an New Area have received their salaries in digital yuan.
The payroll can be implemented using blockchain technology, Xiong’an Blockchain Payment Platform which is a collaboration between Bank of China Hebei Xiong’an branch and China Xiong’an Group Digital City Technology.
Xiong’an was one of the first cities other than Shenzhen and Suzhou counties to test the digital yuan when the country announced the central bank’s digital currency (CBDC) testing phase last year.
However, Xiong’an first became the first city to test the provision of salaries in digital yuan to its residents.
In fact, a hardware wallet was also launched last February for the purpose of storing digital yuan. It was developed by the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) and launched in Xiong’an New Area.
While the United States (US) worries that the existence of the digital yuan is a threat to the dollar, China since April has made it clear that they do not want this digital asset to be a 'weapon' against the currency. Instead they guarantee the use of digital yuan only for domestic use.
At the same time, the digital yuan will also not replace digital payment services from China’s largest provider firms such as Alipay and WeChat Pay.
