McDonald’s and Starbucks Among Early Testers of Chinese CBDC

According to a news report from Chinese media outlet InterChain Pulse, China’s forthcoming central bank digital currency (CBDC), will be tested by a few heavyweights in the restaurant industry, along with 16 other merchants. They include Subway, Starbucks, and McDonald’s.

According to the report, the Xiongan New Area management’s reform and development bureau held a meeting to the effect. The meeting involved a total of 19 merchants, as part of the first testers of the CBDC. Others include popular dumpling store Qin-Feng Baozi, and a few other hotels, and convenience stores. A bakery and a bookshop were also a part of the list.

The extensive list also includes branches of China’s four major banks, in the Xiongan area. They are the China Construction Bank, the Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Last week, Kryptomoney reported that China had begun testing the CBDC in four cities. Apart from Xiongan, the other cities include Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Suzhou. The new report suggests that testing in the Xiaongan New Area is mostly focused on retail companies, including food vendors. For Suzhou City, testing is targeted at local government staff.

Reportedly, China hopes that the currency would already be used by the public, before the Winter Olympics in 2022.

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