China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) has been taking drastic steps towards its adoption in daily use.
The latest move has been made by the city of Changshu where state employees will receive their salaries in digital Yuan from May 2023.
It will include employees of government agencies, state-owned enterprises, and public institutions such as state-run schools, hospitals, and media outlets.
Taicang was the first city to start paying public institutions employee wages in digital Yuan back in June 2022.
Digital Yuan, also known as e-CNY, can be used for online shopping, buying gasoline and natural gas, and payment on at least 105 mobile applications.
The digital currency has been integrated into China’s two dominant third-party payment platforms, Alipay and WeChat Pay.
According to People’s Daily in January, digital Yuan in circulation totaled 13.61 billion yuan by the end of 2022, which is around 0.13% of the Chinese yuan at the time.