Shenzhen Launches Pilot Program of Digital Currency for Public Transportation

The southern Chinese city of Shenzhen on Friday officially launched a pilot project involving the integration of digital currency into public transportation networks, a new initiative aimed at encouraging citizens to practice greener travel.

The project is led by the Shenzhen Transportation Bureau and jointly promoted by the People’s Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Shenzhen Tong Co., Ltd.

Under this system, citizens can use the Shenzhen Tong app to pay by digital yuan when traveling by public bus or subway. After applying to join the central bank’s digital yuan “white list,” users can download and register within the digital yuan wallet app. After binding their bank cards to their account, they can use digital payment by scanning the code in the Shenzhen Tong app on buses and subways. Participants can also use digital yuan when purchasing and recharging ordinary cards, also carried out through the mobile app.

Shenzhen launched the third round of its digital yuan pilot program in the city’s Longhua District in January this year.

The use of digital yuan brings key advantages such as real-time receipt, no handling fees and double offline payment. On July 16, China’s central bank issued a White Paper on the Research and Development of Digital RMB in China, which proposed to “accelerate the establishment of an innovative and open monetary service system that faces the digital economy era and generally benefits the public.” The next day, the central bank announced that the trading volume of digital yuan in the country had exceeded $5 billion.

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