The China Digital Currency Electronic Payment System (DCEP) has entered the testing phase of large commercial transactions and is close to its official launch.
Following the first large-scale testing of China’s Digital Currency Electronic Payment System (DCEP) in Shenzhen, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced that it is expanding DCEP testing to more cities. The system will also be tested in the processing of large commercial transactions, including payments in the hospitality industry and e-commerce.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce recently released a detailed DCEP test plan in three major financial and political centers in China, including the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone, which includes Shanghai and neighboring provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, Beijing, and the Great Bay Area. Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau.
From this list, Suzhou, a city in Jiangsu province, will be the first to test the digital yuan. DCEP testing focuses on commercial transactions such as retail, e-commerce, education and transit card top-ups, according to a source in the city who spoke with Jingji21.
Another source told Jingji21 that testing in Shenzhen was also deployed in this direction. Forkast was able to confirm this fact by asking the shoppers of a shop in Shenzhen if they were using DCEP to complete transactions.
According to an anonymous source Forkast, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the Department of Commerce still have internal differences over DCEP that need to be resolved, and it is unclear how this will affect the digital currency rollout. Every NSC employee working on a DCEP project has signed a nondisclosure agreement that prohibits discussion of internal project work.
Stakeholders interviewed by Jingli21 said there is still a lot of internal debate in the NBK about the complexities of changing user habits, such as weaning citizens from using WeChat and Alipay in order for DCEP to be successful. For their part, the NBK and the Commerce Department say that work on the platform is ongoing and they are listening to feedback from stakeholders to improve it.
“We will pay more attention and channel more resources to expanding the use cases of DCEP in the economy as directed by the Department of Commerce and the NBK,” said a spokesman for the DCEP project team. “The specifications have been worked out and the risks are under control.”
Earlier this month, local media reported that four Chinese banks were conducting full-scale testing of the NBK digital yuan app and wallet. In April, the Central Bank of China began testing the state digital currency payment system in four Chinese cities: Shenzhen, Xiongan, Suzhou and Chengdu. In addition to commercial banks, Starbucks and McDonald’s food service chains took part in the testing.
