The Chinese city of Shenzhen has offered its residents an opportunity to participate in a giveaway that involves the distribution of 20 million digital yuan worth ?2,265,138.95. The city’s administration unveiled this news via an official announcement on December 31, noting 100,000 Futian Youli digital RMB Red Packets, each worth 200 yuan, are up for grabs.
Reportedly, the city intends to issue the red packets in the form of a lottery draw. As such, the residents will not have to compete, seeing as the city will not offer the red packets on a first-come-first-served basis.
According to the announcement, the city opened the lottery registration channel at midnight January 1, 2021, and closed it earlier today. To participate in the lottery, Shenzhen residents had to register via i Shenzhen, the city’s event reservation platform. The registration process required all interested individuals to submit their official name, second-generation resident ID card number, and mainland Chinese mobile phone number.
The i Shenzhen system then reviewed the data hours and sent a confirmation message to the eligible individuals through the Shenzhen Government SMS service platform.
A chance to spend digital yuan at more than 10,000 locations
Per the announcement, the event organizer will send winners text messages starting 8:00 AM, January 7. The giveaway’s rules mandate that winners will have to download the digital RMB App and open a Personal Digital Wallet to receive their prize.
Winners can start spending their digital yuan at 8:00 AM, January 8, and will be able to spend the funds until midnight, January 17. They will have an opportunity to spend the funds at more than 10,000 merchant stores in the city. However, they will not be able to transfer the funds or redeem them to their bank accounts. Failure to use the red packets before their expiry will see the city withdraw the funds.
This news comes as China continues testing the real-life uses of its CBDC. Before Shenzhen, Suzhou ran a trial of the CBDC and distributed 20 million digital yuan to its residents, allowing them to spend the funds at JD.com and 10,000 other stores.
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