China's e-CNY Transactions Top CNY 83 Billion with More Pilot Cities

The pilot program of China's digital fiat currency, the e-CNY, has expanded to 23 cities over 15 provinces, the country's central bank said Wednesday.

The Industrial Bank has been approved to be a new operation agency.

Data from the country's central bank, also the designer of the e-CNY, showed that the accumulated transactions of digital yuan hit CNY 83 billion (about USD 12.33 billion) in the first five months of this year.

As of May 31, 2022, a total of CNY 264 million digital transactions were undertaken during the period and nearly 4.57 million commercial outlets were available for e-CNY payments, Zou Lan, an official from the People's Bank of China, said at a press conference.

Zou said that the central bank will further expand the scope of its pilot programs, strengthen pilot scenario construction along with innovation, and enhance international cooperation.