China has stepped up efforts to promote the digital yuan with pilot programs. Since 2017, the country has tested the use of the digital yuan in a number of cities, including Guangzhou.
The use of digital RMB is similar to that of WeChat Pay and Alipay, which are popular online payment apps in China.
What makes the digital fiat currency different is that it can also be used without a network.
China's digital yuan transactions amounted to nearly 87.57 billion yuan (13.78 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2021.
Produced by Xinhua Global Service
