China to Push for Wider Use of its Digital Yuan, the e-CNY

China is gearing up for further implementing the digital yuan. Saying it will increased convenience of using its central bank digital currency, the People’s bank of China (PBOC) has called for streamlining the integration of the digital yuan (e-CNY) system with traditional tools for electronic payments.

To improve on the ease of use for the people of China, the number of use-cases, scenarios and environment will have to be widened, according to PBOC deputy governor, Fan Yifei.

In a speech during a digital forum in Beijing, the PBOC official called for the alignment of regulations and standards in areas such as digital identities, Bluetooth, and QR codes so that the interconnectivity of the different payment systems would be enhanced.

Furthermore, Fin said that existing infrastructure of needs to be upgraded to protect the security of the digital yuan platform technologies to prevent leakage of sensitive information and eliminate data security risks.

Did China’s e-CNY officially launch yet?

Following a “soft launch” that has largely gone unnoticed a year ago, which included a series of promotional giveaways, China’s digital yuan was officially introduced to the world during the Winter Olympics in Beijing, where daily transactions totaling $315,000 were recorded.

Whether the Olympics are considered the official rollout of the e-CNY or still part of testing remains ambiguous with many cities across China following Beijing, including Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiongan, Chengdu, Shanghai, Hainan, Changsha, Xian, Qingdao, and Dalian.

U.S. Senator Pat Toomey previously warned his fellow policymakers, warning that the e-CNY is a potential threat to U.S. interests.

Meanwhile, China is also pushing for a transition towards a metaverse economy which it believes to be good for a $5.8 trillion industry by 2030. Investing heavily in the virtual space, China recently announced that there are 160,000 virtual human enterprises in China with 20 provinces or cities in the country reportedly supporting the metaverse.