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Salaries for Chinese city civil servants to be released in digital yuan
The new mode of salaries in digital yuan is to be rolled out in May and will include civil servants in Changshu
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The implementation of the digital yuan in China is set to receive a huge boost in the upcoming month, with salaries being paid in digital currency. In the city of Changshu, civil servants will be paid their salaries in the form of digital May onwards. It would include civil servants in state-owned units, public institutions, and those in public service.
A local hospital employee also confirmed the same, saying that their salaries would be paid in digital yuan from May. A few reporters also received news that self-service terminals could also be used for the digital yuan settlements.
Several use cases of the digital yuan were introduced a few months back, along with a smart contract functionality to increase the adoption of the central bank digital currency (CBDC). Several initiatives have been taken in this regard. Meituan, a food and retail delivery app, saw the smart contract function released in its application.
Accordingly, the digital yuan salaries to be paid from May are considered to be one of the biggest projects concerning digital currency. The city of Changshu is familiar with the digital yuan, though, as some government employees have been receiving subsidies through the CBDC since 2022.
But overall, digital transactions in China are led by two private apps, Alipay and WeChat Pay. Amongst China’s efforts to better market the CBDC included a wallet app for the digital yuan in the Apple and Android store, which was aimed at those regions where the pilots for the currency were being conducted.
Other prominent international businesses in China were also prompted by the country to start accepting the digital yuan in payments. Other government steps include outright distribution of the digital yuan amongst residents to drive adoption.
While digital yuan adoption has still been low in spite of all such efforts, civil servants receiving salaries in the digital yuan may change course for the CBDC in the near future.
The writer is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash
The writer is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash
