In a positive turn of events, the Chinese city of Jinan has opted for CBDC adoption by allowing CBDC payments on local bus rides.
China has made sincere efforts recently to increase CBDC adoption, even though it does not treat crypto trading as legal. With central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) gaining traction worldwide, a city in China has also taken a unique decision.
In the city of Jinan, buses would start accepting CBDC payments. The official CBDC of China is the digital yuan. Initially tested on a couple of bus routes by the authorities, the facility would be expanded on all buses now by them.
The bus route software and card readers were all updated, reportedly. Moreover, the city is also offering discounts to all those who opt for CBDC payments on the buses. A person can avail of two discounted rides in a day while opting for six such rides in a month.
The new development is part of several steps taken by the government in China to pursue CBDC adoption. It had also decided to start paying civil servant salaries through the digital yuan. The government applied the move across all levels of employees.
CBDCs were also promoted by the country extensively throughout the Belt and Road initiative, with a special focus on trade. While China has taken a tough stance on crypto, Hong Kong has taken a different turn. The region has recently started to become a crypto hub.
CBDCs, on the other hand, continue to be heavily promoted by China.