international cards. Source: e-CNY app

According to a number of local Chinese news outlets, the latest version of the e-CNY app coincides with the start of the Asian Games.

China has extensively trialed using the digital yuan as a payment option for foreigners visiting the country. According to Yicai, the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 marked the beginning of the CBDC pilot being open for tourists as a means to transact with local merchants using e-CNY.

Inbound tourists are reportedly able to make use of overseas mobile numbers to register and open e-CNY wallets and make use of the recharge wallet feature, which now supports Visa and Mastercard payments.

As Cointelegraph recently reported, China is making moves to ensure that the digital yuan is available as a payment option for all retail payment scenarios. This would make the digital yuan a ubiquitous payment method in China between retail users and merchants.

As per the latest iOS app update published on Sept. 22, version 1.1.1 supports its top-up service with international card options.