China's central bank announced on April 2 that its digital yuan pilot program will be expanded to more domestic cities following its successful operation over recent years, Guangzhou included.

The digital fiat currency, or E-CNY, will be accessible in Tianjin and Chongqing municipalities, Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong province, Fuzhou and Xiamen in East China's Fujian province, as well as six cities in East China's Zhejiang province hosting the 2022 Asian Games, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement.

The country has tested the use of the digital yuan in over 10 places, including Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Xiong'an New Area. Most recently, Beijing and Zhangjiakou were included in the program after it was tested at the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Many application modes have taken shape spanning wholesale and retail, catering, tourism, as well as the payment of administrative fees, which cover both online and offline scenarios that can be replicated and promoted, according to attendees of a PBOC meeting in March 31.

By the end of 2021, digital yuan transactions in China amounted to nearly 87.57 billion yuan ($13.78 billion).