Bank of China will be one of the four top banks to distribute digital currency ©Getty Images

Digital currency will be used at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics with the top four banks in China in charge of its distribution, according to a high-ranking officer at the People's Bank of China.

Ahead of the Beijing 2022 Games, scheduled to take place from February 4 to 20 in the Beijing and Hubei Provinces, the news came from the state-owned television network CCTV, who referenced a source from the bank.

The Bank of China (BOC), the China Construction Bank (CCB), the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) are all set to distribute the currency with internal tests in four cities coming first.

These cities will be Xiong'an New Area, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Suzhou.

Last week, the ABC released an app for the use of digital currency with selected users from the four cities only eligible to use it as of now.

However, there are rumours that the currency will be available earlier than Beijing 2022 with CoinGeek reporting that China intends to conduct a pilot programme where it issues digital currency to state employees next month.

The Government also intends on paying the employees of Suzhou half of their travel subsidies for May in digital yuan.