"I tried the digital yuan when I saw the payment QR code, and didn't expect to find it so convenient!" On July 18, a resident surnamed Liu used digital yuan, or e-CNY, to pay at Pok Art Bookstore. According to a staff member of the bookstore, payment and collection of digital yuan will be finished immediately after customers scan to pay, with no service charge.

Since Zhongshan started the pilot program of digital yuan in December 2022, banking institutions, under the guidance of the People's Bank of China Zhongshan Central Sub-branch, created various application scenarios in such venues as large business districts, chain supermarkets, tourist attractions, hospitals, schools and public service centers.

In the first half of this year, pilot banks in Zhongshan opened some 445,300 individual e-CNY wallets and some 40,300 organization wallets, handled over 1.96 million transfers and purchases amounting to 399 million yuan, and applied the digital yuan program to 82,400 stores.