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JD.com, an e-commerce giant, has started accepting China’s CBDC as payment on its platform during Singles’ Day, an unofficial Chinese holiday and shopping season. Although the digital renminbi (e-CNY) has not yet launched nationwide, JD.com’s move to embrace it during the holiday shows the country is pushing for the large-scale trialing of the CBDC.
According to JD, more than 100,000 people have used e-CNY on its application during the Singles’ Day promotion period, which started on October 31 and is slated to end today. JD partnered with China Construction Bank to accept e-CNY during this period.
Reportedly, searching e-CNY on JD’s platform offers users directions to download China’s digital currency application. By completing this step, users get $2.34 (?1.75) worth of e-CNY to spend on the platform.
By testing the CBDC during Singles’ Day, the Chinese government aims to see how e-CNY will fair in a large-scale environment. This is because the holiday is famous for e-commerce giants offering massive discounts and recording sales worth billions of dollars.
China continues pushing for the adoption of its CBDC
This news comes after JD partnered with state-owned Bank of Communication earlier this year to push for e-CNY’s adoption. This collaboration saw the Bank of Communications hand out $3.10 million (?2.31 million) worth of the CBDC to residents of Shanghai and Suzhou. The promotion saw JD help distribute red envelopes, each containing 20 yuan and a JD.com coupon worth 20 yuan.
Before this, JD became the first online platform to e-CNY in December last year. In April this year, the company said it had paid some of its staff in the CBDC. Between December last year and June this year, over 450,000 people have used e-CNY on JD.com, spending over $15.6 million (?11.65 million). JD has since not released more details on the spending of e-CNY.
With the Winter Olympics inching closer, China has been increasingly pushing for the mass adoption of its CBDC. These efforts became controversial after a disclosed that the country was forcing US companies to embrace e-CNY. Per the report, China coerced McDonald’s to expand the scope of testing the CBDC despite already having 270 restaurants trialing it.
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