(Yicai Global) July 8 -- The digital currency lab of the People’s Bank of China is teaming up with ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing to jointly research and explore the application of a digital yuan in the smart travel sector.

The two look forward to building a cooperative relationship in the field, the Beijing-based company said in a press release today. Didi Chuxing said it will work with the digital currency lab to promote the integration of the so-called digital and real economies, while fostering mutual growth.

The digital economy has become an important driver of high-quality economic development, and a legal cryptocurrency will become a key element in its future growth.

Set up in May 2017, the digital currency lab has logged new achievements in research and development. At the end of last year, the central bank announced pilot testing schemes for Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiong’an New Area and Chengdu, as well as the future Winter Olympics.

At the start of this year, Agricultural Bank of China’s digital currency test wallets and Suzhou’s test scenarios revealed that work on the currency has matured and formal use of the digital coin is slowly approaching.

In April, the lab also signed a deal with SenseTime, a leading Chinese artificial intelligence unicorn, to work together on AI-related innovation and other matters in the fintech sector.

Editor: Peter Thomas