The digital yuan (e-CNY) was included in the list of payment means of the social platform WeChat to increase the popularity of China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Leading Chinese social network WeChat added the e-CNY as a means of payment in its payment service. This was reported by the local media.
WeChat app now supports fast payment in the digital yuan through a CBDC wallet. Users can pay for goods and services of WeChat’s mini-programs and 94 other trading platform partners. To do so, users need to connect the e-CNY digital wallet via the app interface and sign in using a cell phone number linked to WeChat.
According to Linghao Bao, Analyst at consulting firm Trivium China, Chinese consumers are actively using the WeChat payment service for everyday purchases. Dongxing Securities reported that the number of active WeChat users in China exceeded 950 million monthly users in 2022. This accounts for about 48% of the country’s population. Therefore, the integration of payments in the e-CNY will contribute to the popularization of the state digital currency.
Recall that the Chinese government calls to use all available propaganda tools to increase the popularity of the e-CNY, whose balance was ~0.13% of all money in circulation in the country in 2022.
The Chinese government intends to abolish the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), the country’s main financial supervisory body. According to Reuters, the authorities plan to create a new body of financial supervision in the sweeping reform. There’s no reliable information yet on how the government’s reforms will affect the crypto industry in China, whether a separate regulator will be created for the crypto market, and whether the ban on digital assets will be lifted.
In February 2023, it became known about the tacit support of the PRC’s government for crypto initiatives that are being implemented in Hong Kong. Moreover, the Chinese authorities began the active development of a new research structure designed to strengthen the introduction of blockchain technology in various industries of the country.
