Increasingly, Chinese toll booths are enabling drivers to pay highway tolls using the country’s CBDC.
The province announced that it has established e-CNY “tax payment points” in unmanned “electronic tax bureaus” and banks across the area. These payment options have been used by both individuals and businesses to pay $254 million in taxes.
Moreover, 74 additional properties were exchanged using digital yuan after the October e-CNY-powered first land transaction.
For a digital Yuan, push for it
Fujian claims that the province began providing relief loans in digital yuan to local businesses in November last year. The digital currency is also used to purchase carbon sinks for environmental enhancement programs.
Fujian reported that 14,700 eCNY carbon sink payments have been made since the program’s launch.
Read more: Chinese cities offer $26.6M in Digital Yuan as a way to encourage adoption
Global Times reported that there were approximately 200 events and approximately 180,000,000 Digital Yuan (eCNY) were distributed during the 2023 Spring Festival holidays in China. The total amount of the eCNY distributed was $26.6 million.
Hangzhou residents were each given an eCNY voucher for 80 Yuan ($12). To increase holiday spending, 4 million Yuan was also allocated (approximately $590,000.
Fujian has declared its intent to continue advancing the adoption of digital currency in the future. The province plans to concentrate on utilizing the CBDC in “smart contracts and supply chain financing.”
In the meantime, the central bank is aiming to demonstrate the digital currency’s capabilities in ongoing cross-border trials in Macau and Hong Kong.
Since 2021, the mainland Chinese bans other cryptocurrency, including Ethereum and Bitcoin. Following China’s ban, more than $50 billion worth of cryptocurrency left East Asian accounts to accounts outside the region, Chainalysis found.