China Opens Blockchain Innovation Research Center
After the ban on bitcoin transactions in 2021, China has invested more in blockchain technology. China Daily recently reported that the nation would open a blockchain innovation research facility in Beijing.
The National Blockchain Innovation Center in China will collaborate (1) with academic institutions, industry leaders and blockchain technologists to study and develop blockchain’s fundamental technologies.
China is getting ready to invest in its cyberspace infrastructure
The study’s findings, the paper says, will be crucial to maintaining China’s new digital infrastructure. According to the article, the blockchain innovation hub’s primary research areas will be in blockchain’s basic theoretical framework, key technologies, software and hardware, especially blockchain core infrastructure such as core platform and validation network.
The academy will be managed by BABEC (Beijing Academy of Blockchain and Edge Computing). BABEC’s ChainMaker blockchain is well known in the industry. Fifty companies, including the state-owned China Construction Bank, have supported BABEC’s ChainMaker project (China Unicom).
There are currently 240,000,000 transactions processed every second on ChainMaker (TPS), and the system handled 100,000 TPS in 2020. The government gave BABEC control of the new research institute since it is a frontrunner in blockchain technology.
Although China has taken a hard line against bitcoin trading, it has been a leader in blockchain development. China is so confident in its blockchain capabilities that it calls itself a blockchain country.
In September 2022, China’s government boasted that China was responsible for 84% of all blockchain applications submitted worldwide.
This claim may or may not be far from the truth, but the reality is that a very small percentage of blockchain applications are approved after being submitted. As it stands, only 1 in 20 submitted applications have been accepted so far.
Recent Advances in China’s CBDC Industry
China’s government has branded the blockchain and CBDC initiative as its own. Regarding China’s CBDC expansion, the monetary authority has been pushing out e-yuan (e-CNY), worth millions of dollars, around the country to promote CBDC adoption. During the Christmas season, People’s People’s Bank of China reportedly launched around 200 e-CNY-related events around the country.
The purpose of these events was to increase consumption. During this exercise, several municipalities in Chain issued CBDC-based subsidy and consumption voucher schemes totaling 180 million yuan ($26.5).
According to the Global Times, a Chinese English-language news site, local governments in places like Shenzhen have handed out e-CNY subsidies totaling more than $14.7 million.
To increase CBDC use, China has taken several steps, including setting targets for certain cities. According to another source, on January 16, every resident of the city of Hangzhou received an electronic Chinese New Year voucher worth 80 yuan. About $590,000.00 in electronic CNY was distributed by the city.
On the same day, the top ruling party leaders in Suzhou City created a hypothetical key performance indicator by the end of 2023. By the end of 2023, 2023, city officials said, e-CNY transactions will have amounted to 2 trillion yuan, or $300 billion.
As of October 2022, two years after the creation of the CBDC, total e-CNY transactions had barely topped 100 billion yuan, or $14 billion.
To entice people to download the e-CNY wallet app, they included the ability to send money “red packets” or “hongbao.” The software was upgraded in early January to allow users to make wireless transactions using Android smartphones.
China has long been recognized as a leader in the technology industry. China’s prospects for further development and even greater success may be enhanced with the opening of a new center dedicated to researching blockchain technology.
