The central bank’s digital RMB pilot program is rapidly expanding across the country. In the era of the digital economy, digital RMB has great room for development. On the contrary, third-party online payment methods are under pressure from national policies, substitution of similar products, and social needs, leading to considerable uncertainty about their future direction. This article compares digital RMB with third-party payment platforms to analyze its unique advantages. We also collected questionnaire information filled out by groups of different generations to explore the audience groups of digital RMB and understand the attitudes of different groups towards using digital RMB for payment. The Baidu search index was used to explore the differences in the attention of different provinces to digital RMB, and the cumulative value of real estate investment was selected as the core independent variable to study its impact on digital RMB. Using the Baidu search index increasing search index chart in the main pilot areas, we analyze the reasons for its popularity trend. Finally, problems existing in the development of digital RMB are pointed out, and corresponding suggestions are provided.
JEL Classification: B22 , D11 , E42 , E52 , E58