Spring Airlines has sold the first airline ticket paid with the digital yuan (DCEP). Local media report this.
Spring Airlines received an order of 560 yuan paid with digital renminbi for a flight ticket from Shanghai to Shenzhen, marking the start of digital currency payment in China’s civil aviation, said the Shanghai-based carrier on Friday. pic.twitter.com/e7r2RhXsuC
— China News 中国新闻网 (@Echinanews) April 16, 2021
According to the publication, the customer paid for a Shanghai to Shenzhen flight priced at 560 yuan (~$86). Media citing the carrier noted that the payment in DCEP marked the start of using digital currency in China’s civil aviation.
Spring Airlines rolled out the new feature in its mobile app, according to the media.
In October 2020, the first mass testing of DCEP was held in Shenzhen. At that time 11 gas stations began accepting the digital yuan as part of a pilot project to use its payment system.
During the second experiment, residents completed nearly 140,000 transactions totaling 18.22 million yuan (~$2.8 million). In January 2021, the third phase of trials began.
The distribution experiment of 100,000 00 envelopes?u201d? also took place in Suzhou. Beijing and Shanghai announced plans to support DCEP testing.
In February 2021, a branch of the Agricultural Bank of China in the “megacity of the future” Сюйъане in Hebei province developed a hardware wallet for the digital yuan.
In April, Shenzhen authorities will conduct another DCEP test.