China has expanded the trials of its upcoming central bank digital currency (CBDC) to its <a href="https://www.cryptoknowmics.com/news/beijing-subway-now-accepting-digital-yuan-payments/">capital</a> Beijing’s subway network. According to a recent announcement, the digital yuan has been fully integrated into the subway’s payments system and will be supported across all 24 lines and 428 stations in the city.
<h2>Beijing Underground Introduces Digital Currency Across All Subway Stations</h2>
Before the trial’s extension, CBDC payments were available only to passengers who used the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's (ICBC) mobile app. The latest development will remove this limitation and allow the network’s 10 million daily users to buy tickets, recharge transportation cards, and scan QR codes through an e-CNY wallet. 

Ticketing machines at the station will also accept digital yuan payments, along with pre-existing services like AliPay, WeChat Pay, and others. Passengers can also use their digital yuan at staffed counters to buy tickets and top-up transportation cards.

To make CBDC payments, users would need to scan QR codes associated with the transaction via their digital yuan wallets.

The full-scale introduction of e-CNY in a metropolis like Beijing has brought China closer to <a href="https://www.cryptoknowmics.com/news/china-and-japan-push-their-respective-cbdc-trials-forward/">realizing</a> its CBDC ambitions. This move was preceded by multiple smaller pilots both in Beijing and other cities of China.
<h2>China Is Years Ahead of Major Economies in Digital Currency Development</h2>
It is well-known that China is years ahead of major economies in its CBDC development efforts. Chainalysis executive Ulisse Dell'Orto told CNBC in a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/08/09/chainalysis-on-chinas-digital-yuan-and-central-bank-digital-currencies.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">recent interview</a> that China has a clear advantage when it comes to digital currencies. 

"The rapid deployment of the digital yuan will basically enable China to expand its global influence. They have been pioneering CBDCs, leaving some of the largest powers in the world several years behind," Dell’Orto noted.

He further added that Beijing might eventually integrate its CBDC into the Belt and Road Initiative and promote the use of e-CNY.

"If we're only simply looking at the Belt and Road Initiative, it could definitely be a digital currency that could be used and traded with their partners. So I think that this will have a very important impact on China's policy, and this is why China's trying to roll out its currency as soon as possible."

China is presently looking at the 2022 Winter Olympics to rollout the digital yuan on a broader scale. Some lawmakers in the US have, however, objected to this move and discouraged their athletes from accepting e-CNY in any form.

China Extends Digital Currency Trials to Beijing Subway

China has expanded the trials of its upcoming central bank digital currency (CBDC) to its capital Beijing’s subway network.

Divya is a postgraduate from Jawaharlal Nehru University specializing in International Relations and a professional writer with more than 5 years of experience writing for the web. She is an avid reader interested in the global financial system and the effects of decentralization. At Cryptoknowmics, she hopes to deliver clear and understandable content to inform readers about the latest events in the crypto sector.

China Extends Digital Currency Trials to Beijing Subway

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