China had more than 264 million yuan digital yuan transactions, with a total volume topping 83 billion yuan (about US$12.3 billion), as of May 31, People’s Bank of China (PBoC) official Zou Lan said at a press conference on Wednesday.

See related article: China’s PBoC wants to link e-CNY with Hong Kong’s Faster Payment System

Fast facts

• In 2021, digital yuan payments totaled 87.565 billion yuan (about US$13 billion).

• There are now over 4.56 million stores accepting payments in the central bank digital currency (CBDC).

• China’s CBDC, digital yuan or e-CNY, debuted in Shenzhen in a October 2020 pilot batch as trials expanded to 23 cities by April 2022.

• China will continue to expand international cooperation in digital currency, Lan, the director of monetary policy at the central bank, added.

• The PBoC is a member of the mBridge project, a cross-border CBDC payments collaboration between four central banks and the Bank for International Settlements.

• On Saturday, Hong Kong’s new Chief Executive John Lee pledged to advance the mBridge project.

See related article: Covid-19, postponed Asian Games to push digital yuan into the slow lane?