China Launches Blockchain Research Center to Accelerate National Adoption Trends
The government of China is planning a specialized blockchain research center in Beijing to help the country’s digitization agenda.
China is reportedly launching a national blockchain research center to further facilitate the adoption of blockchain technology. The East Asian country is seeking to accelerate industrial adoption of blockchain technology despite its well-documented crackdown on cryptocurrencies.
According to local media reports, China is looking at locating its blockchain research center, the National Blockchain Technology Innovation Center, in Beijing. This facility will establish a research network with a group of supporters, including blockchain firms, local universities and think tanks. The consortium’s primary goal would be to explore key blockchain technologies to advance China’s comprehensive digitization.
More details about the China Blockchain Research Center
The Beijing Academy of Blockchain and Edge Computing (BABEC) will be in charge of the new crypto-friendly institution. BABEC is already enjoying popularity for developing the Chang’an Chain or ChainMaker blockchain, an initiative supported by a large ecosystem of companies. Most of these business companies, such as banking powerhouse China Construction Bank and telecom operator China Unicom, are state-owned.
The current number of transactions per second (TPS) that can be performed by the ChainMaker initiative is 240 million. This capacity was only 100,000 TPS back in 2021.
In recent years, China has positioned itself as a blockchain nation full of limitless potential. Last September, Beijing reported that an overwhelming 84% of all blockchain applications worldwide are from China. Despite the country’s continued push for blockchain technology, the adoption rate remains significantly low. For example, only 19% of the total applications submitted received approval. Furthermore, cryptography expert Gao Chengsh also drew attention to the wide scope of such applications. According to Chengsh, also a founder of blockchain developer Shanghai Hashvalue Information Technology:
“Many of the blockchain patents apply not only to blockchain, but also to traditional Internet technologies, such as computing and cryptography.”
e-CNY
China has also promoted its central bank digital currency (CBDC), e-CNY, as part of its blockchain promotion efforts. So far, the country’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), has paid out millions of dollars in digital yuan across China. However, China’s CBDC continues to see instances of low usage, with cumulative e-CNY transactions only exceeding 100 billion yuan, or $14 billion, last October.
In December, a former PBoC official expressed displeasure with the underutilization of the digital yuan. At the time, the former director of research at the People’s Bank of China, Xie Ping, said that e-CNY usage has been low and very inactive.
Last February, China attempted to promote the digital yuan by making it available for transactions at the Beijing Olympics. The PBoC made the centralized digital currency available to local residents as well as foreign athletes and visitors to the sporting event.
Reports stated that more than $315,761 worth of daily payments were made using the digital yuan during the Olympics. At the time, this figure suggested a positive trend in the currency’s advanced attempts, but in retrospect that proved not to be the case.
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