China pilots nationwide blockchain development over real-world use cases

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced the commencement of an in-house effort to expedite blockchain development and innovation across 15 zones and 164 entities. 

The initiative aims for the large-scale implementation of blockchain technology across businesses and government organizations in China. 

The CAC, along with other government agencies, directed the regulatory authorities to “promote the intensive and balanced layout of blockchain technology infrastructure in the region, form a large-scale production-level cross-chain data exchange support capability, and promote the formation of a multi-party collaborative blockchain industry ecology.”

The notice also included a list of cities, companies and other entities — predetermined by the local and departmental recommendations — that will be directly involved in the blockchain pilots.

The key areas of blockchain development include manufacturing, energy, government data sharing and services, law enforcement, taxation, criminal trials, inspection, copyright, civil affairs, human society, education, healthcare, trade finance, risk control management, equity market and cross-border finance.

The circular also emphasizes the need for regulatory departments to coordinate the advancement and promotion of the pilot projects “and give full play to the role of blockchain in promoting data sharing, optimizing business processes, reducing operating costs, improving collaborative efficiency, and building a trusted system.”

Related: China aims to separate NFTs from crypto via new blockchain infrastructure

Despite a strong stance against crypto adoption, the Chinese government continues to show interest in related ecosystems including blockchain and nonfungible tokens (NFT). 

Most recently, the Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), a government-backed blockchain project in China, was reportedly working on an infrastructure to support businesses and individuals in building NFT-focused platforms and apps.

As Cointelegraph reported, the project aims to support the deployment of platforms capable of trading non-crypto NFTs via fiat currency.