Eleven gas stations in Shenzhen (the city that is the technology hub in China) have reported accepting the digital yuan.
The digital currency yuan is the new digital currency of the Central Bank of China (CBDC).
A few days ago, more than 1.5 million digital yuan was distributed to citizens as part of an ongoing pilot program in China, according to the local Economic Information newspaper .
And the government agency "Guangdong Petroleum" is conducting tests on the currency by accepting it at the level of 11 fuel stations located in "Shenzhen", where Chinese citizens with digital yuan can pay with the new currency by scanning the QR code in a way similar to Apple Pay payment methods.
The comments up to now were positive, with citizens indicating that the transaction experience is smooth and takes only a few seconds to complete.
Payment facilities are available for all services, from refueling to purchasing any commodity available at gas station kiosks.
To make the service more accessible to all users, the Digital Yuan app uses a technology that “allows phones and receivers to communicate and operate without the need to connect to the Internet, which means that as long as the mobile phone has electricity (without the need for a phone signal) users can complete any digital payments using the digital yuan.
This differs from the current system used by other digital payment apps in China such as WeChat, which require an internet connection to function and to charge transaction fees as well.
Guangdong Petroleum said the application of digital yuan payment will be expanded to more than 110 autonomous petrol stations in the same city, "Shenzhen" this month.
This development is another milestone for the Digital Yuan project in China.
The launch of the digital yuan coin is part of China's ambitious five-year plan, which is characterized by reliance on modern technologies, including blockchain technology and artificial intelligence.
The Chinese parliament had said in 2019 that it expected the digital yuan to be fully completed and launched before the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
It was also indicated in September 2020 that China would put its DCEP digital currency as a viable alternative to reduce its dependence on the US dollar.
