China digital currency: overseas visitors free to use e-yuan at 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing

During the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, self-service carts, vending machines and stores will issue wearable payment devices that will allow easy use of the digital yuan

Trials of the e-yuan started two years ago, with 34.5 billion yuan (US$5.3 billion) spent so far through 70.8 million transactions

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China began research into the sovereign digital currency in 2014 and has been running pilot programmes for the digital yuan in 10 regions, including Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu, Shanghai and Hainan. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:00pm, 16 Jul 2021Updated: 9:02am, 20 Jul 2021

Overseas visitors will be granted access to China’s digital currency without the need to open a local bank account during trials at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, according to a central bank white paper.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has yet to confirm a timetable for the full roll-out of the so-called Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP), but confirmed on Friday that 34.5 billion yuan (US$5.3 billion) had already been spent through 70.8 million transactions as part of ongoing trials of the e-yuan over the last two years.

“We will continue to steadily push forward with research and pilots for the digital yuan, but we won’t preset a timetable [for the launch],” the PBOC said.

During next year’s Winter Olympics, self-service carts, vending machines and stores will be authorised to issue wearable payment devices such as gloves, badges and clothes that will allow easy use of the digital yuan.

Earlier this month, deputy PBOC governor Fan Yifei confirmed that the Winter Olympics in 2022 would be the next key trial, adding that the central bank had “the confidence to continue increasing the scope of the trials”.

China began research into the sovereign digital currency in 2014 and has been running pilot programmes for the digital yuan in 10 regions, including Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu, Shanghai and Hainan.

The digital yuan has so far been tested across a vast range of scenarios, including paying utilities bills, catering services, transport and retail.