Shenzhen airdropped digital yuan to residents to stimulate consumer spending

In an effort to reinvigorate local consumer spending, the city of Shenzhen will airdrop 30 million digital Chinese yuan (e-CNY) to the local residents.

Since May 30, e-CNY has been distributed to residents through Meituan, China’s largest food delivery platform.

To get the digital yuan, users need to log into the Meituan app, search for the “Lego Shenzhen” campaign (乐购深圳), and enroll. The amount that each person receives is determined at random, much like the results of a lottery. The money can be used not only on Meituan but also at more than 15,000 brick-and-mortar merchants in Shenzhen.

It comes days after Xiong’an New Area in northern Hebei province, launched a similar campaign to hand out 50 million yuan worth of e-CNY “red packets” as gifts.

The e-CNY plays a vital role in boosting spending and revitalizing local businesses. Lin Yifu, an economist at Peking University said in a speech earlier this month that China should hand out 1,000 yuan to each family in locked-down areas, half of which can be in e-CNY.

Prior to this, the People’s Bank of China had identified the e-CNY as a potential tool for advancing regional economies and improving the efficiency of select financial services.

According to the central bank, by the end of 2021, transactions using e-renminbi totaled 87.6 billion yuan, with 261 million personal e-wallets opened.