The Chinese regime is known for strict censorship and surveillance, and the country notably bans many of the multinational digital services that the rest of the world uses. In the same vein, the country banned all crypto exchanges from operating in the country. After a blanket ban on all crypto-related activities in the country, the government had been working on a Chinese yuan central bank digital currency. Now it is turning out to be one of the most successful projects from the Chinese governments, and the Chinese population is welcoming the official digital yuan wallet app in numbers. However, it is important to keep in mind that many apps in China are more of a necessity than a choice. WeChat, for example, is ubiquitous in China and necessary for daily activities.
When the pilot version of the official digital yuan wallet app was released in China, it soon topped the charts of local app stores for both android and Apple devices. The Digital Currency Research Institute of the People’s Bank of China developed the app and it is still in the testing phase. Notwithstanding the stability of the app, users have downloaded and installed it in huge numbers. The question that now arises is how far China is willing to take its CBDC project. Some experts speculate a complete shift to CBDC in the future as it would be easier for surveillance. On the other hand, CBDCs need to be a global phenomenon before China can switch to it completely. We can expect some conclusive reports about this by the end of 2022.
