Shenzhen Giving Away Millions in Digital Yuan in Lottery to Boost Consumption, Test Tech: Report

The promotion is part of China's efforts to try out out and stimulate usage of its new digital currency.

AccessTimeIconOct 10, 2020 at 8:42 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 10:07 a.m. UTC
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The rapidly growing city of Shenzhen will be giving away 10 million yuan (US$1.47 million) of China's new sovereign digital money via lottery, as China seeks to test out and stimulate the usage of the digital funds, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.

  • Winners will be announced on Sunday and the currency can be used at 3,389 shops. They can't be transferred or moved into a regular bank account, the report said.
  • The promotion is part of China's plan to move solely to digital currency, known as the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP).
  • The new currency has been used in more than a billion yuan worth of transactions across the country in a series of test programs over the past 12 months.

    See also: China Sees Advantages in Being First on New Digital Currency ‘Battlefield’

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