Beijing’s blockchain supremacy plan gives shot in arm to start-ups, although dampers remain on bitcoin
- China’s MIIT and CAC published a plan this week to create an “advanced blockchain industrial system”
- Blockchain is being used in China in a wide variety of fields, such as smart city and government initiatives
Beijing’s latest plan to build China into a world leader in blockchain technology has given the country’s start-ups a much-needed shot in the arm, boosting a wide array of applications and industries, apart from bitcoin, industry insiders and investors say.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) published a plan this week to create an “advanced blockchain industrial system” and cultivate globally competitive national blockchain champions by establishing industrial standards, tax incentives and intellectual property protections.
China’s blockchain blueprint encourages start-ups to explore blockchain applications in areas ranging from finance to logistics and healthcare.
This comes as the country continues a wider crackdown on cryptocurrencies, seen as a destabilising force by Beijing. Authorities are also clamping down on bitcoin mining in the country, which takes advantage of cheap coal-fired electricity.
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Luo Xiao, founder and CEO of VastChain, a Hangzhou-based blockchain start-up, said he is “very happy” with the latest government guidelines that detail Beijing’s vision for the industry following President Xi Jinping’s backing of blockchain technology in a 2019 Politburo study session.