Chinese is currently in the second year of mass testing of its national digital currency called the digital yuan (e-CNY) with no set schedule for an official launch. However, that hasn’t stopped Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com from adding it to its payment option for the ongoing Singles Day, which is believed to be the biggest shopping event to date.

The Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com is adding e-CNY to its Singles Day payment option

JD.com reports that nearly 100,000 people used e-CNY during the promotional event, which began October 31 and will last through November 11, special offer of 15 e-CNY valued at $ 2.34.

The Central Bank of China has partnered with major online and retail giants such as malls, travel agents, and e-commerce to test their CBDC range. The pilot for e-CNY began with government grants for travel but quickly expanded to large cities in a variety of industries. Rumors have it that e-CNY could make its official debut during the upcoming Winter Olympics.

The 4th Digital China Summit in April also announced JD.com’s partnership to develop the digital yuan.

However, since January, JD Group has been offering digital yuan salaries to some of its employees in 5 Chinese cities: Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Changzhou, Sa and Xi’an. Employees can deposit their digital yuan salary as yuan into their personal bank card or use the digital yuan offline in applicable scenarios in the city pilot, reported The Paper, a digital newspaper from Shanghai United Media Group.

Why is China delaying e-CNY adoption?

China started developing CBDC back in 2014, when most other countries didn’t even know the concept. The development phase lasted almost 5 years and was completed in the last quarter of 2019. Despite some rumors of a possible official launch in the course of last year, China has only expanded the test program to other fields.

The ongoing delay in the official launch shows that the Chinese government is trying to bring a finished product to the world. The fact that no other country is at the level of CBDC development also leaves China plenty of time to test its product. More than 100 countries are said to be working on the introduction of a national digital currency, but only a few countries like Russia and South Korea have completed the development phase and started testing in 2022.

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