The number of users of the Chinese digital yuan, also known as e-CNY, rose more than sixfold in the past four months, reaching 10% of the country's population.

According to Mu Changchun, head of the People's Bank of China's Digital Currency Research Institute, speaking at the Hong Kong Fintech Week, 140 million people in China activated their e-wallets. This represents about 10% of the total population of China. There was a sharp rise in users of the digital yuan over the past four months. In July, the People's Bank of China said that as of June 30, 20 million yuan-denominated digital wallets had been opened.

In addition, Mu said the number of e-CNY corporate wallets nearly tripled to 10 million, up from 3.5 million corporate digital wallets four months ago. The number of transactions made with e-CNY jumped to 150 million, and their total value was 62 billion yuan, or $9.7 billion, he added.

Central banks around the world are considering launching central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to modernize financial systems, prevent competition from cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, and speed up domestic and international payments.