Digital Yuan Contest Comes To Hainan Province as China Ramps Up CBDC Efforts

South China’s Hainan Province is set to run a two-week campaign later this month to promote digital yuan use among its residents.

Digital Yuan Promo Continues

China is one of the leading countries in the central bank digital currency (CBDC) race. Different provinces in the country have organized a swath of digital yuan promotional events, and this one happens to be the latest.

The campaign, which would be held from April 12 and April 25 this month, would promote digital yuan by offering residents who use it a discount of 100 yuan for every CBDC expenditure.

The campaign is hosted by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Hainan Branch, together with the Haikou Branch of China’s central bank and the Sansha Municipal government, to encourage consumer adoption of the forthcoming fiat replica.

The ICBC plans to enforce the campaign by ensuring the offers are implemented across island supermarkets, hotels, and restaurants, where participants will receive a 99-yuan discount ($15) for every expenditure worth 100 yuan.

ICBC Hainan’s merchant and mobile banking infrastructure, together with digital yuan wallets, will be implemented to illustrate the new currency’s safety and convenience and foster public awareness of it.

South China’s Hainan is an island province of the People’s Republic of China with territorial claims in the South China Sea. Although the region is the smallest city by population in China, it is the largest by geographic reach.

The province encompasses over 280 islands and their surrounding waters, reaching almost 800,000 square miles of sea and land area.

China Test Running Digital Currency In Provinces

China has rolled out the digital yuan bit by bit in different provinces in different forms recently.

Earlier pilots to test the CBDC and its infrastructure were held in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xi’an, and Chengdu provinces. Cities like Xi’an, Qingdao, and Dalian are expected to join more trials soon.

Last month, the Chinese media outlet Securities Times reported that Citizens of Beijing and Shanghai can now apply to one of six state-owned Chinese banks for a digital yuan wallet.

The six banks included are the Bank of Communications, Postal Savings Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and the Bank of China.

China’s race towards the digital yuan began in 2014, when Xiaochuan Zhou, then-governor of the People’s Bank of China, established a Digital Currency Research Institute.