Rollout of digital yuan builds momentum

Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company of China Ltd recently issued the first batch of insurance policies which can be paid in China's central bank digital currency, the digital yuan, in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

This demonstrated that the insurer is taking the lead in extending trial application programs of the digital yuan to online premium settlement.

The Shenzhen-based insurer developed an insurance policy for medical workers in Nanshan district of Shenzhen, providing them with 300,000 yuan ($46,351) of compensation for death caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, 50,000 yuan of allowance for confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, and 50,000 yuan of accidental death compensation. Policyholders will enjoy allowances if they use their digital yuan wallets to pay for the insurance policy, Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday.

The insurer joined forces with the Bank of China's Shenzhen branch in combining the livelihood guarantee for medical workers, the promotion of digital wallets and premium settlement using the digital yuan.

Such a move will further promote the application of the digital yuan in everyday life, experts have said.

As of June 30, the number of scenarios for China's digital yuan pilot programs exceeded 1.32 million, covering many areas including bill payment, catering services, transportation, shopping and administrative services, according to a white paper issued by central bank the People's Bank of China on Friday.

The total value of transactions using the digital yuan has reached about 34.5 billion yuan.

The total number of transactions was more than 70.75 million, spread across in excess of 20.87 million personal wallets and more than 3.51 million enterprise wallets, the white paper said.

The digital yuan has further improved payment efficiency and reduced payment costs.

China will further expand the scope of the trials and the scenarios they cover, said Fan Yifei, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China.