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China wants to be a frontrunner in blockchain technology with local governments ramping up blockchain projects, and yet, the government still maintains a strict stance on cryptocurrencies, highlights a new report by Abacus, 500 Startups, and the South China Morning Post.
Local governments of Shanghai, Shanxi, Henan, Guangzhou, Guiyang and Hangzhou have all issued policies to encourage blockchain development, but Shenzhen and Hangzhou taking a step further by launching dedicated funds, the former pledging as much as 500 million yuan (US$79 million)[1], the latter planning to invest some 10 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion)[2] in a blockchain fund. Government officials of Hangzhou have claimed that it is the world’s biggest fund investing in blockchain projects.
Nationwide, the master plan for the Xiong’an New Area economic zone, created under a direct order from President Xi Jinping, has set out to use several advanced technologies including blockchain and cognitive computing to transform the area into a smart city.
In Hong Kong, the Global Trade Connectivity Network (GTCN), a cross-border infrastructure based on blockchain technology, entered its tendering phase in February 2018[3]. The initiative, jointly developed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), aims to digitalize trade and trade finance between the two cities with plans to expand the network in the region and globally.
In the private sector, China’s Internet giants Alibaba and Tencent, among others, have been developing and ramping up blockchain development. Alibaba partnered with the city of Changzhou in August 2017[4] to launch China’s first application of blockchain technology in the medical sector. Tencent signed a strategic partnership[5] with China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing in March 2018 to develop an industry application
