Chengdu Launches 40 Million Yuan Digital Renminbi Lottery with JD.com’s Assistance

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JD.com will play a key role in a trial project for the issuance of the digital renminbi to consumers in the Sichuan province capital of Chengdu.

JD.com’s tech subsidiary JD Keji (formerly JDD) announced on 23 February that it would be providing technical and service support to the “Digital Renminbi Red Packet Spring Festival Trial Activity” scheduled for launch the following day.

The digital renminbi trial is the first of its kind to be held in western China, and follows similar trials held over the past several months in Shenzhen, Suzhou and Beijing, all of which involved lotteries for the issuance of “red packets” (the traditional Chinese gift-giving envelope) each containing 200 yuan in digital renminbi to winners.

JD Keji provided technical and service support to the 20 million yuan digital renminbi lottery held in Suzhou in mid-December, as well as another lottery event held in Beijing. During the Suzhou lottery JD.com became the first e-commerce platform in China to accept the digital renminbi for online purchases.

According to JD Keji the Chengdu digital renminbi red packet trial will see the issuance of digital currency for both online and offline spending purposes, with JD.com once again providing specialist support directly via its e-commerce platforms.

A total of 40 million yuan in digital renminbi will be issued during lottery in the form of 200,000 red packets, each containing either 178 yuan or 238 yuan.

Winners of digital renminbi red packets in Chengdu will be able to use the proceeds to purchase special products via the JD.com app, as well as make purchases at over 12,000 designated shops and vendors in the city of Chengdu itself.

These stores include restaurants and super-market chains, alongside JD.com’s bricks-and-mortar stores for the sale of home appliances and electrical goods.

“During the digital renminbi trials, we hope to contribute even more to the establishment of a digital renminbi wallet ecosystem by means of diverse online and offline consumption options, leading technological capability, steady customer service capability and rich implementation experience,” said Peng Fei (彭飞), an executive from JD Keji who is working on the digital renminbi trials.

JD Keji is currently cooperating with all six of China’s big state-owned banks on digital renminbi trial projects, as well as helping vendors to upgrade their cash registers to accept the digital renminbi for in-store payments.