China is pushing forward with its digital currency adoption efforts as various cities and institutions in the country embark on initiatives to promote the use of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) and build a cashless economy.
Recently, Jinan, the capital city of Shandong Province, took a significant step in advancing CBDC adoption by enabling digital yuan payments on all its bus lines. Following a successful pilot on two bus lines, B52 and BRT5, which received positive feedback from users, the city administration has decided to implement the new payment system across its entire bus network.
The city has updated its card readers and bus route software to enable bus passengers to make payments using the digital currency. The city is also offering a fee discount to encourage customers to choose the CBDC payment method. Users opting for digital yuan payments can enjoy up to two discounted rides per day, with a maximum of six reduced rides per month.
In a separate move, the city of Changshu announced its plans to pay its civil servants with the digital yuan. According to the plan, government employees at all levels, including those in public institutions and state-owned businesses, will receive their salaries through the CBDC.
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China integrates other initiatives
Beyond domestic usage, the CBDC has been integrated into the Belt and Road initiative to facilitate cross-border trades and transactions. Xuzhou, a key city in the initiative, has revealed its strategy to promote the adoption of the digital yuan in cross-border trade.
Also, French bank BNP Paribas partnered with the Bank of China (BOC) to enable its corporate clients to conduct real-time transactions using the digital yuan through BOC’s system.
As more cities and institutions join the drive towards digital currency adoption, the reach and impact of the digital yuan are expected to expand and transform the way financial transactions are conducted in the country and beyond.
China is expanding the Digital Yuan infrastructure in 2026
From January 1, 2026, China introduced an upgraded management framework that allows digital yuan balances held through commercial-bank wallets to receive interest under applicable deposit rules. The balances are also being incorporated into banks’ asset-liability management and covered by deposit insurance, bringing the e-CNY closer to the structure of conventional bank deposits.
The PBOC has also expanded the number of banks authorized to operate digital yuan services. In April, it added 12 banks, including China CITIC Bank, China Everbright Bank, Huaxia Bank, China Minsheng Bank and Bank of Ningbo, bringing the number of authorized operators to 22.
That expansion matters because more participation by banks gives consumers and businesses more points of access to the CBDC.
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