The digital renminbi is being used to facilitate agricultural property rights transactions in rural communities in the greater Shanghai region, amidst a push for the central bank initiative to drive greater financial inclusion.
On 29 September the Shanghai Rural Village Property Rights Exchange (上海农村产权交易所) announced that it would use the digital renminbi for guarantee deposits and payments transfers for transactions involving the usage rights to land in rural villages.
The move reportedly marks the first time that the digital renminbi will be used for payments purposes in an agricultural context.
According to a report from state-owned media, a Mr. Zhang from Caojing Town in the Jinshan district has already made use of the digital renminbi to place guarantee deposits of 1368 yuan and 1440 yuan with the Exchange, in order to sign up for newly available land usage rights.
Caojing Town is currently a trial zone for rural land usage right transfers that are paid for using the proceeds from insurance policy guarantees, enabling buyers to commence agricultural production sooner.
On 29 September the Exchange also executed a cooperative agreement with the Shanghai branch of China Construction Bank (CCB) to drive China’s rural village revitalisation strategy.
Under the agreement the two parties will engage in cooperation across five areas including rural village property rights transactions, rural financial inclusion innovations, and the use of digital renminbi services to revitalise rural communities.
