According to a report by the Shanghai Securities Journal, China will soon launch a pilot program for digital yuan payroll (e-CNY) for civil servants in May.
The program will be initially tested among various professionals, including doctors, teachers, and firefighters, in Changshu city, a populous city located near Shanghai.
The workers will receive their salaries exclusively in e-CNY, which is already integrated into various payment systems such as WeChat, allowing employees to pay for services and goods.
The state will control all transactions through a state mobile wallet using QR codes, forming part of the Jiangsu provincial government’s plan to develop an efficient, government-run payment system by 2025.
If the pilot project is successful, civil servants in other cities could receive their salaries in the state cryptocurrency.
The Bank of China is actively promoting e-CNY, which is already being used in 15 regions across the country, including Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiongang, and Chengdu.
Transactions in the currency have already exceeded ¥100 billion (approximately $14.5 billion).
In April, the Changsha administration announced that over 400,000 merchants had begun accepting the state digital currency for payment in the first quarter of 2023, with the total volume of e-CNY transactions in the city exceeding $1.4 billion.
To further promote the adoption of blockchain technology, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology approved the establishment of a blockchain technology center in the capital in March.
The center will explore blockchain practices in various industries and the economy as a whole.