Will going digital transform the yuan’s status at home and abroad?

WITH A FEWCNYCNYCNYCNY taps on her phone, Lu Qingqing, a 24-year-old office worker, leapt into the monetary future. She was one of 50,000 people in Shenzhen selected late last year for a trial of China’s , called e. She downloaded an app, received 200 yuan ($30) from the government and went shopping for books. The app’s display showed a traditional banknote. “It felt like real money,” she says.Legally, it is as real as hard cash. All the money in an e app, offered by one of six commercial banks, is backed by an equivalent deposit at the People’s Bank of China. Just as the central bank stands behind any paper yuan, so does it guarantee e. If, say, the commercial bank that made Ms Lu’s digital wallet went bust, her e—linked to her personal-identity number—would be transferred to a new wallet.