Residents who received "red packets" of digital yuan use the money in stores in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. Photo: Li Hao/GT

The beta version of the digital yuan wallet app went live on Apple's App Store and Android app stores on Tuesday, ready for the broad use by domestic and international customers during the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics.

According to the official introduction, the app is the official service platform for the pilot programs of China's legal digital currency, the digital yuan, known as e-CNY, for individual users, providing the opening and management of personal wallets as well as the exchange and circulation of the digital currency.

"The app, independent from other domestic bank apps, can directly provide a payment platform for users, while better serving the major scenarios of the Beijing Winter Olympics and expanding the profile of the yuan," Wang Peng, assistant professor at the Gaoling School of Artificial Intelligence at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Wang noted that users can enjoy convenient services, including transportation, catering, accommodation, shopping and tourism, with the app during the Beijing Winter Olympics, and more importantly, the number of digital yuan users will increase through the high-profile event.

"The use of the digital currency at the Winter Olympics will pave the way for a large-scale national rollout in the next few years, alongside expanding its international profile," Wang said.

The digital yuan is still in the regular testing phase of the development process, and approved users in the 11 pilot areas and scenarios, including Shenzhen, Shanghai, Chengdu and the Beijing Winter Olympic area, are allowed to register for the app.

The application topped the free app ranking list in Apple's App Store in the Chinese mainland on Wednesday, and residents in 11 pilot areas can use digital yuan to order take-out food since Wednesday.

Wang said that the application of the digital yuan will cover more scenarios and areas, and the application forms will become more diversified, including physical cards and bracelets, in addition to the digital yuan wallet app installed on smartphones.

According to a white paper on the R&D progress of China's digital yuan released by the People's Bank of China, the digital yuan, as the legal currency issued by the central bank, will co-exist with the physical yuan in the long term. It is mainly used to meet domestic retail payment needs.

As of October 22, 2021, China's digital yuan pilot scenarios exceeded 3.5 million, covering public utilities, catering services and transportation, with transactions reaching 62 billion yuan ($9.7 billion).