Approximately $2.29M worth of digital Yuan will be distributed to citizens of Shenzhen as China continues its CBDC testing program. The Chinese government would provide 15M Yuan in digital currency to 130,000 people.

Lottery System For The CBDC Giveaway 

In addition, there will be no purchase requirement for this CBDC, making it applicable at over 5,000 retailers. The PBoC is presently still carrying out tests on CBDC. The giveaway is to assess the usage of electronic currency and increase awareness. It has planned to award over 130,000 individuals by utilizing a lottery mechanism through WeChat payments. 

Citizens can take advantage of the offer if they register, and the winners will be drawn randomly after the registration period. The purpose of this action by the authorities is largely to increase the use of the money, as China continues to be concerned about a purported new wave of the Omicron virus.

Increasing The Number Of CBDC Users

Presently, over eight banks have issued the electronic Yuan. It has been added to other industries for a limited time, such as supermarkets and restaurants. Because of a new Omicron epidemic detected in the Shenzhen region, the PBoC has allegedly been pushing the currency to help the city’s citizens. According to reports, it would help the inhabitants and encourage the better use of the digital Yuan.

Following the promotion of the CBDC pilot program previously, the PBoC has chosen to increase the scope of its operation. With the extension, the government intends to expand the program to additional cities, including Guangzhou, Tianjin, and Chongqing.

Previous Cases Of CBDC Giveaway By China

There has been more than one occasion in which the PBoC has handed out electronic Yuan to inhabitants of Shenzhen after the region was selected as a pilot location for testing the CBDC. The Chinese authorities distributed 10M electronic Yuan to the people of Shenzhen in 2020. The red packages were redeemed in about 5,000 retailers at that specific event. These shops were classified and only available in Luohu. They were not open to the public.

In addition to Xiamen and Shanghai, the electronic Yuan is being tried in other cities, including, Xiong’an, Hainan, and even the Zhejiang province, which will host this year’s Asian Games in September. In addition to this, the testing will be expanded to include more cities.

As stated by statistics from the PBoC, the electronic Yuan had over 260M users at the end of 2021. e-CNY is said to have assisted in the completion of over 87B Yuan in transactions.