The CCP has been heavily promoting digital RMB and has recently announced major trials. This has aroused public attention. Experts believe that this is a new monetary measure implemented by the CCP to tighten control over the people and to prepare to return to a planned economy. On August 14, the Ministry of Commerce of the CCP expanded the scale of the digital RMB pilot project in 28 urban areas including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanghai, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, and the midwest areas.
The announcement mentioned that the digital RMB pilot project will first be promoted in Shenzhen, Chengdu, Suzhou, Xiong’an New Area of Hebei, and related departments of the Winter Olympics venues. The pilot project will then be expanded to other regions and eventually implemented nationwide. At the same time, state-run media also gave high-profile publicity to the fact that the four major state-owned banks - Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and China Construction Bank - were testing the operation of the digital currency in major cities such as Shenzhen.
