(Yicai Global) May 6 -- Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo has started testing central bank-backed digital yuan payments in a few stores in China and will expand the pilot across the country in the coming month.

Two outlets in Shanghai and one store in Guangzhou have kicked off payment trials during the eastern city's May 5 Shopping Festival, the Paper reported yesterday, citing Uniqlo China. Virtual yuan payments should be launched in more stores nationwide in late May or early June.

Since last October, the People’s Bank of China has rolled out a series of public tests of the digital yuan in cities including Shenzhen, Suzhou, Beijing, and Chengdu. More cities are set to be involved this year.

Uniqlo is cooperating with some campaigns to promote awareness and hopes customers find using e-yuan convenient, according to representatives of the company. Those willing to test the service need to apply to do so.

The retailer, owned by Fast Retailing Group, is accelerating its expansion and digital transformation in China. Uniqlo will open 21 new stores in Shanghai, Chongqing, as well as Hunan and Hubei provinces this month. It recently launched a shopping application called StyleHint to recommend new looks from the client's existing items and those found in stores.

The maker of casual clothing has become bigger in China than in Japan at least in one aspect. For the first time, the number of outlets in China exceeded that of Japan in the second half of 2020, according to the firm. By the end of last month, Uniqlo had more than 800 stores in China. In 2020, it opened 66 new ones.

Shanghai has been promoting digital yuan testing during the city's second May 5 Shopping Festival this year by making the famous shopping street Nanjing Road into a key district for e-yuan payments during the May Day holiday.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi