While an increasing number of central banks are shifting their focus from retail to wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), China’s e-CNY, a retail CBDC, has shown notable progress, despite the country’s already competitive e-payment landscape, where tech giants Tencent and Alibaba dominate.
Currently, the e-CNY pilot programme spans 26 cities across 17 provinces. The digital currency is accepted in most large shopping centres, supermarkets, chain restaurants and even vending machines. Moreover, it is integrated with China’s most popular online platforms, such as ride-hailing app DiDi, shopping app Meituan, travel app Ctrip, and, of course, WeChat Pay and Alipay.
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