Over 200 Hong Kong stores now accept digital yuan payments, banks have claimed, as China looks to take its CBDC into the cross-border space.
The list of e-CNY-accepting vendors includes stores and outlets that cater predominantly to Mainland Chinese tourists.
Per Wen Wei Po Hong Kong, the 200+-strong list includes the liquor vendor Duty Zero by CDF, the Kwun Tong district-based IW Hotel, the convenience store chain VanGO, and the children’s clothing store Balabala.
Jewellery outlets, supermarkets, electronics retailers, pharmacists, and beauty stores were also included on the list.
Mainland Chinese shoppers have also been told they can enjoy discounts of “up to” around $14 when spending their digital yuan holdings in selected Hong Kong outlets.
The promotion will run until the end of August this year.
Chinese banks have been looking to boost the number of cross-border spending options available to their customers.
Thus far, these efforts have focused on Hong Kong and Macau.
Both are Chinese regions.
But as both have separate economic systems and currencies, Beijing thinks they will provide suitable testbeds for the e-CNY away from the mainland.
Other nations popular with Chinese tourists have already talked up the idea of accepting digital yuan payments.
These include South Korean tourist hotspots like the Myeongdong District of Seoul.
The discount offer is being operated by the Bank of China, one of Mainland China’s biggest state-run commercial banks.
The bank’s Hong Kong branch is co-running the promotional event.
Shoppers can only use discount coupons on purchases made in Hong Kong.
To activate the discount codes, Mainland Chinese consumers need to scan QR codes from their digital yuan wallets at participating stores.
But citizens of
Read more on cryptonews.com