JD.com is set to become the first e-commerce platform to accept China's digital yuan for online shopping.
The move is part of a pilot by the People’s Bank of China which will see RMB20 million yuan (US$3 million) in digital currency handed out to people in the city of Suzhou via a lottery.
Suzhou residents will be able to use the digital yuan to buy selected products on JD's platform.
Meanwhile, nearly 10,000 offline stores, including JD’s home appliance and convenience outlets are also accepting the digital currency, while residents can choose to use it for JD’s cash-on-delivery service.
The Suzhou lottery comes after a similar experiment in Shenzhen in October which saw two million people apply for a share of 10 million in digital yuan.