All the currencies have already been digital for decades. The most interesting part of this was the expiration timer to get people to actually spend. Otherwise, what really does this do that alipay or wepay doesn't?
Note that wechat and alipay are commercial companies. So having a national digital currency does have benefits
If a tiny country that produced nothing did this, it would be less relevant.
The only reason they're not freely available for anyone to use is that it would make it easier for Chinese citizens to move their money out of the country, which the government doesn't want them to do. The "digital yuan" isn't going to be different in that aspect.