Beijing Telecoms Provider Latest Company to Join Digital Yuan Pilot

Another private sector firm has stated that it is working with the Chinese central bank on its fast-expanding digital yuan pilots.

Per Shanghai Securities News, a Beijing-based telecom provider named Shenzhen Techo Telecom admitted that it was working on the project, known in China as the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) system.

The firm appears to be reluctant to divulge much in the way of detail regarding its involvement in the DCEP project, only going so far as to explain that it was “participating in DCEP testing and related promotion-related work with a commercial bank.”

Last year, the company announced a partnership deal with the mobile manufacturer Huawei, with the firms agreeing to create a range of fintech security and cloud computing-related solutions.

The telecom firm is the latest public company to join the project, following on from a ride-share operator and food delivery platform.

The news comes just days after one of the country’s biggest banks, the China Construction Bank (CCB) briefly went live with its digital yuan wallet late last week, reported Hoxun. The state-owned CCB is one of the Middle Kingdom’s “big four” commercial banks and had soft-launched its digital yuan wallet.

This was met with a giant flood of interest online over the weekend, with the wallet a hot topic on internet forums and on social media platforms.

The CCB is one of at least four banks working with the central People’s Bank of China (PBoC) on the digital yuan project, which involves a quickly evolving pilot in at least five major cities.

The CCB provided a brief statement after pulling the app, writing,

“This feature is yet to be officially released to the public. We appreciate your patience.”

In related news, China’s state-owned banks have issued a flurry of blockchain patents two weeks ago, while Beijing reportedly made a u-turn on its digital yuan expansion plan. At the same time, some experts believe that digital yuan is unlikely to put a dent in US dollar dominance as the global reserve currency.