China’s ‘two sessions’: first mention of blockchain in five-year plan boosts still-nascent industry
- China’s 14th five-year plan sets the policy direction for the world’s second-largest economy in the next half-decade
- Blockchain plays key role in the country’s digital economy under President Xi Jinping’s Vision 2035 strategy

Coming in the form of a lengthy document that is long on big ideas and short on specifics, the 14th five-year plan lays out the broad goals that the country aims to work towards in the next half-decade and beyond.
“The inclusion of blockchain in the 14th five-year plan will do good for the development of both the industry and the professionals, and, in a broader sense, will grow the digital economy to a higher quality level,” said Gao Chengshi, a cryptography expert and a founding partner of blockchain developer Shanghai Hashvalue Information Technology.
The move “may push forward the establishment of more industry standards and improve regulation,” according to James Wang and Catherine Hong, analysts at IDC. The market research firm forecasts that spending on blockchain in China will grow at an annual rate of nearly 52 per cent, reaching nearly US$2.3 billion by 2024.