The authorities of the Chinese city of Shenzhen will conduct another test for the digital yuan (e-CNY). Local media is writing about it.

“Red envelopes” will be distributed by lottery. The total amount will be 30 million yuan ($4.5 million).

As part of the test, the Shenzhen Municipal Trade Bureau is partnering with various financial institutions, including the Bank of China, Agricultural Bank, and ICBC, according to the publication.

In October 2020, the first batch test of e-CNY took place in Shenzhen. During the second experiment, local residents processed approximately 140,000 transactions worth 18.22 million yuan (~$2.8 million). In January 2021, the third phase of testing began.

An experiment was also conducted with the distribution of 100,000 “red envelopes” in the city of Suzhou. Beijing and Shanghai have announced their plans to support e-CNY testing.

In February 2021, the Agricultural Bank branch of China in Xiong’an, the “metropolitan of the future” in Hebei Province, developed a hardware wallet for the digital yuan.

In July, authorities in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, tested a digital yuan with preprogrammed use cases.

Previously, Chinese food delivery company Meituan allowed partner merchants to accept e-CNY. The WeChat communication system and its affiliate WeBank also participated in the test.

Recall that in April 2022, the former head of the People’s Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan, said that the digital yuan is designed for the population and merchants and will not replace SWIFT or turn currency into a weapon.