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Blockchain
TechTech Trends

China approves blockchain research centre in Beijing, aiming to make breakthroughs while maintaining cryptocurrency ban

  • The Ministry of Science and Technology has approved the establishment of the National Blockchain Technology Innovation Centre
  • The centre will develop software, hardware and fundamental theory, with a focus on use cases that benefit the national economy

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The Ministry of Science and Technology has approved the establishment of the National Blockchain Technology Innovation Centre in Beijing. Photo: Shutterstock
Xinmei Shen
The Chinese government is setting up a research centre tasked with achieving core technological breakthroughs related to blockchain, aligning with Beijing’s continued push to experiment with distributed ledger technology while maintaining a ban on cryptocurrencies.

The Ministry of Science and Technology recently approved the establishment of the National Blockchain Technology Innovation Centre, which will be based in Beijing, according to the government-run newspaper Beijing Daily.

The centre will focus on areas of blockchain regarding fundamental theory, software and hardware, with the aim of developing related key technologies and industrial applications, the newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The new centre will also focus on major use cases related to the national economy and personal livelihoods, making blockchain an important foundation for China’s new digital infrastructure, Beijing Daily said, offering scant details.

Over the past several years, China has offered greater support to blockchain development while also intensifying a crackdown on cryptocurrencies, which the government regards as a threat to financial stability. In 2021, the government clarified that all cryptocurrency trading was illegal in China.

Just two years earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping said blockchain would play “an important role in the next round of technological innovation and industrial transformation”. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country’s two main tech industry regulators, also said in guidelines published in 2021 that China will seek to use blockchain broadly across a range of industries by 2030.
The nod from Xi served as a call to action for Big Tech firms and start-ups alike, resulting in a flood of investment into blockchain. By last July, China had 1,821 blockchain companies registered with the CAC, encompassing legal, financial, agricultural and intellectual property protection projects.
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