According to reports, Suzhou, located in the eastern Jiangsu province in China, is set to become the next city to sample the Chinese digital yuen. The innovation due to start in December will see residents receive about 50,000 packets of the new digital currency through a local lottery.

This trial’s tentative date is set as December 12th, which coincides with the Chinese “Double 12” shopping holiday, which is one of the busiest commercial days in the Asian country. The trial will allow the CBDC to know to what extent the currency’s future lies, at least in Suzhou. An early trial that occurred had seen travel expenses being paid by state employees of the city in the digital currency.

Suzhou authorities to distribute red envelopes

The city is expected to distribute about 50,000 red envelopes containing the digital currency where users can spend the digital currency. The trials will commence using Near Field Communication(NFC), a technology that allows users to communicate in close proximity.

The NFC innovation requires no internet transactions like buying, selling, and transfers with this digital currency. Retailers and merchants in Suzhou city are expected to have installed on their systems; NFC QR codes will make the transactions seamless.

If all things are in place, and the trials are successful, this will mark a major landslide victory for the CBDC. Simultaneously, Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan, China, will currently be testing digital currency wallets. The digital wallet is already being advertised by industrial and commercial banks in the city and is believed to be another great innovation of the country.

China extends its lead in the race to launch CBDC

In October, the city of Shenzen distributed about 50,000 red envelopes to test the digital currency. With the lottery opened on 9th and the digital currency tested on 12th through to 18th of the same month, users were not impressed with the CBDC’s innovation. According to reports, Shenzen users likened the digital Yuan platform to already known spaces like Wechat pay and Alibaba.

China’s race is to be the first country to infiltrate its system with a regulated digital currency. They know if this is successful, it could lead to a new era experience in the world’s monetary policy. The digital Yuan aims to give the Chinese policymakers a framework view of how money flows in and out of the country and help the system curb illicit funds for terrorist financing or money laundering.

The digital Yuan is one of the most advanced initiatives of the CBDC, which is designed to replace cash in circulation, such as coins and banknotes. Users will have to download digital wallets to store the funds and generate QR codes that can be scanned when transacting. The digital Yuan will not be like cryptocurrencies as a commercial bank, and central will keep databases of its user’s flow of the currency.