Travelling to China? Here's how to use digital renminbi to pay

S'pore customers of ICBC and BOC can top up e-CNY wallets from local bank accounts

- Lim Min Zhang

Tickets at tourist sites like Beijing's Forbidden City, bus rides in Guangzhou and drinks at Starbucks. Singapore travellers to China now have the option of linking their local bank accounts to a digital yuan app for such purchases.

From December, customers of the Singapore branches of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and the Bank of China (BOC) can top up their e-CNY wallets from their Singapore bank accounts.

The launch of this pilot scheme was announced at the annual Singapore-China talks, held under the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) in Chongqing on Dec 15.

Here is a guide to using e-CNY in China.

WHAT IS E-CNY, AND HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM ALIPAY AND WECHAT PAY?

It is a digital currency issued by the People's Bank of China. It was piloted in 2019, making China the first major economy to extensively test and develop a central bank digital currency.

Even before the pilot announced on Dec 15 for ICBC and BOC customers, foreigners have been able to use e-CNY in other scenarios. In 2022, it was piloted for athletes and tourists at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The e-CNY app can be downloaded from the Google Play or Apple App stores, and new accounts set up by registering a mobile number.