Chinese authorities set sights on Blockchain future with new center – here’s what you need to know

China has launched a state-backed research center dedicated to exploring blockchain’s potential and achieving core technological breakthroughs related to the technology.

According to a recent report by local Chinese outlet South China Morning Post, the country’s Ministry of Science and Technology has approved the construction of the National Blockchain Technology Innovation Center, which is tasked with researching blockchain technology for industrial applications, as well as how it can be used in the the national economy.

Based in Beijing, the center will “focus on areas of blockchain regarding basic theory, software and hardware, with the aim of developing related key technologies and industrial applications,” the report said.

The Beijing Academy of Blockchain and Edge Computing (BABEC), an entity popular for the development of the Chang’an Chain or ChainMaker blockchain, will lead the research center.

China has been a supporter of the nascent blockchain technology despite its harsh stance on cryptocurrencies. In September 2022, the Chinese government claimed that the country accounts for 84% of all blockchain applications filed worldwide. However, the approval rate is low, with only 19% of the total applications submitted being approved.

Back in 2021, China’s President Xi Jinping said blockchain would play “an important role in the next round of technological innovation and industrial transformation.”

At the time, Xi acknowledged that the use of blockchain technology has been extended to several sectors of the economy, including digital finance, the Internet of Things, smart manufacturing, supply chain management and digital asset trading.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country’s two main regulators of the technology industry, also said in guidelines published in 2021 that China will seek to use blockchain widely across a range of industries by 2030.

In September 2021, the Chinese regulatory authorities sent a shock wave across the crypto world when they imposed a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies and businesses offering related services. This ban came just months after the country announced its ban on cryptocurrency mining.

Blockchain use on the rise

Over the past couple of years, the use of blockchain has seen an increase among various organizations and countries as the technology provides an affordable and efficient way to make and receive payments, store data and build a credit history.

As reported, the California Department of Motor Vehicles announced last month that it plans to use blockchain technology for record-keeping, including issuing vehicle ownership and streamlining transfers of such ownership.

In a report earlier this year, the World Economic Forum (WEF) also said it believes blockchain technology will continue to be an “integral” part of the modern economy. The organization highlighted the widespread applications of cryptography and blockchain technologies, adding that their use in the financial sector is already remarkable.

“Indeed, as a test of the staying power of digital assets and blockchains at the core of financial services (and other areas of the global economy), look at what the big banks and mature financial services companies are doing, not what they are saying.”