Beijing Promotes Digital Yuan with Transport Discounts
Beijing will launch a promotional activity to encourage the use of digital renminbi (RMB) when taking public transportation, according to the Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration. Read hte latest news about Beijing public transport below.
Subway and bus passengers in Beijing can receive coupons from the Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration’s official website and use them when paying fares with digital RMB. With the discounts, fares can be as low as 0.01 yuan.
Passengers can also enjoy digital RMB payment discounts by downloading the RuubyPay app. RuubyPay allows passengers to take the subway once for only 0.01 yuan when using digital RMB to pay.
Those who want to recoup the discounts must first register as a digital RMB business user via the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and follow the subsequent steps. The digital RMB payment promotional activity is now available on Beijing’s 24 rail transit lines and four suburban railways.
The pilot event is a test into the digital RMB’s research and development to further advance the use of digital currency during the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. It also reflects the Beijing government’s efforts to build the capital into a global digital economy benchmark city.
Currently, the service is available at all 24 subway lines and four suburban railway lines in Beijing, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Public Transport.
“You need to download a mobile APP that is linked with your bank account to access to the service,“
the customer service representative said.
In the future, Beijing rail transit service providers will further promote the multi-form application of digital yuan in multiple application scenarios, to continuously optimize and improve the digital travel experience, media reports.
Cryptocurrencies in China
China is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency markets.
Last month China’s central bank announced that all transactions of crypto-currencies are illegal, effectively banning digital tokens such as Bitcoin.
“Virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities,” the People’s Bank of China said, warning it “seriously endangers the safety of people’s assets”.
Fluctuations there often impact the global price of crypto-currencies.
China, with its relatively low electricity costs and cheaper computer hardware, has long been one of the world’s main centres for mining.
The activity is so popular there that gamers have sometimes blamed the industry for a global shortage of powerful graphics cards, which miners use for processing crypto-currencies.
The Chinese crackdown has already hit the mining industry. beijing metro
In September 2019, China accounted for 75% of the world’s Bitcoin energy use. By April 2021, that had fallen to 46%.
