Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Central Bank of China is accelerating the introduction of the "digital yuan", the development of which began back in 2014.

Today, the "digital yuan" is already being tested in the cities of Suzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Xiong’an. In July 2020, it was announced that such popular mobile applications as DIDI online taxi service, Bilibili video platform and Meituan Dianpin online food service were connected to testing the e-yuan. China intends to introduce a national "e-currency" into full circulation by the Winter Olympics in 2022.

For settlements with Chinese "electronic currency" from a mobile phone, no Internet connection or bindings to bank cards will be required, but the near-field communication technology NFC will be used. In addition, unlike mobile payment systems, it will be possible to carry out very large amounts at once.

Observers note that the e-yuan adoption process has accelerated amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has spurred the cash phase-out trend associated with:

1) the growing popularity of online trading in China, which grew by 5.9% in the first quarter of 2020. In 2019, about 80% of Internet users in China used online payment services, 85% of payments in retail stores were made not in cash, but through mobile payments. In 2019, the volume of mobile payments grew by 25% and reached 49.3 trillion. dollars, and the total volume of non-cash payments reached 377 trillion. Doll.;

2) the transition to cashless payments, which was dictated by considerations of sanitary safety. Experts have proven that a new type of coronavirus can live on bills and coins for up to 3-4 days. In this regard, the Central Bank of China was forced to "quarantine cash": banknotes received from citizens are treated with ultraviolet light and kept in special storage facilities for 14 days before being put back into circulation. In addition, the Central Bank introduced a temporary ban on the physical circulation of cash between regions.

In general, according to experts, the early introduction of the "digital yuan" will be a major victory for China in the trade war with the United States, the implementation of the "Chinese dream", as well as a new step towards becoming a global power.