The deputy director of China[1]’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT[2]) has urged the country to “unite” forces to foster blockchain[3] as a “core” technology for the new digital economy, according to a post[4] on MIIT’s official website today, July 16.
Speaking at the 2018 National Expert Forum on Manufacturing Powerful Countries, the Ministry’s deputy director Xin Guobin said that the “important role” of blockchain should be “grasped from a strategic perspective”:
“[Blockchain] can make up for the deficienc[ies] of traditional credit system, prevent information tampering and forgery, and save [costs across] society. [This applies to] finance, e-commerce, smart medical care, social security, Internet of Things, energy and other fields, and will have an important impact.”
Guobin, who also serves as director of China’s National Leading Group for Manufacturing Power Construction, said the country must now develop blockchain technology on an “industrial” scale to accelerate its adoption across all areas of the economy and society.
The deputy director said that comprehensive planning for the creation of a positive institutional and regulatory environment is necessary in order to achieve the “core goal” of securing a “break-through” in blockchain applications on an industrial scale.
To this end, he emphasized the need for strengthening official policy guidance, easing institutional constraints, and “optimizing” an environment conducive to the blockchain space.
Chinese government policy remains notoriously tough[5] on decentralized cryptocurrencies, with palpable negative impact[6] on domestic crypto trading. However, as an in-depth Cointelegraph report has outlined[7], momentum in China’s blockchain space has been gathering pace in recent months, spurred by endorsement from the highest echelons of the
