China's central bank and the municipal government of Suzhou help JD.com test the digital currency for online shopping in December 2020. Photo: Courtesy of JD.com

Changshu city in East China's Jiangsu Province will pay the salaries of civil servants and state-owned units in digital yuan from May this year, Shanghai Securities News reported on Saturday, citing an announcement released by the local financial supervisory authority and financial department.

Sources familiar with the situation confirmed the document. Changshu has previously promoted the digital yuan pilot in the city, and many consumption scenarios can already use digital yuan payments.

China's digital currency has further expanded its application scenarios, with the digital yuan app being linked to the broadly-used WeChat Pay.

The Global Times learned that the payment platform of the digital yuan app now supports both Alipay and WeChat Pay. Users can make payments with their digital yuan wallets in WeChat's mini-programs, and the feature will be available in more scenarios.

Alipay was linked to the digital yuan app in December 2022, and users can make payments with digital yuan while using Alibaba's Taobao and Eleme services.

On February 28, Ningbo city in East China's Zhejiang Province became the first city in the province to support digital yuan for payment of highway tolls, with all local toll stations accepting digital yuan payment.

Global Times