Chinese newly married couples stand to receive up to $715 worth of digital yuan tokens, discount vouchers, and coupons for tying the knot.
Per the People’s Daily and an explanatory post uploaded to Banibao, the incentive is the brainchild of Shenzhen’s Yantian District, which will run the campaign from November 11 to the end of the year.
Couples registering their marriages in the district in this period can register their eligibility via the “Love Travel Yantian” applet.
The district’s applet is a mini-program developed in the WeChat ecosystem.
This allows couples to enter a lottery-type draw, where they can win various CBDC token prizes, as well as discount vouchers, and time-restricted digital yuan coupons.
The district will give winning couples their coins or coupons in “lucky” red digital envelopes.
To enter, couples must have active Agricultural Bank of China digital yuan wallets.
Traditionally, Chinese wedding guests give couples cash gifts in envelopes.
The district noted that it had created “specially customized digital RMB wedding gift packages and special wedding special spending coupons” for the event.
Why Are Chinese Newlyweds Getting Digital Yuan Handouts?
The district’s move is part of its latest drive to encourage more of its citizens to wed, with the number of marriages plummeting in China.
Yantian launched its drive by publicly hosting a “collective wedding” of 11 couples at an outdoor ceremony held on November 11.
The Yantian District event is not China’s first attempt to blend wedding incentives and digital yuan adoption drives.
Last year, the city of Chengdu launched a digital yuan-themed wedding promotion event on May 20, China’s equivalent to Valentine’s Day.
The city also marked the event with a “collective” wedding ceremony that involved eight couples tying the knot at the Hejiangting Marriage Registration Office.
The number of marriages conducted in China dropped from almost 14 million couples in the mid-2010s to 6.8 million in 2022.
Both public and private sector groups have issued digital yuan giveaways as Beijing seeks to boost public awareness of its CBDC.
The country’s central bank stated that “as of the end of June 2023,” Shenzhen-based individuals and companies had “opened more than 35.94 million digital yuan wallets.”
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