Blockchain has received support from the deputy director of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Xin Guobin, who urged the country to join forces to make blockchain as a “core” technology for the new digital economy.
Xin Guobin, the deputy director of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has urged the country to “unite” forces to foster blockchain as a “core” technology for the new digital economy. According to a post on MIIT’s official website, Xin Guobin believes that the important role of blockchain should be “grasped from a strategic perspective.”
Speaking at the 2018 National Expert Forum on Manufacturing Powerful Countries, Xin Guobin said:
“Blockchain can make up for the deficiencies of traditional credit system, prevent information tampering and forgery, and save costs across society. This applies to finance, e-commerce, smart medical care, social security, Internet of Things, energy and other fields, and will have an important impact.”
From Guobin’s point of view, China must now develop blockchain on an “industrial” scale in order to accelerate its adoption in all the areas of the economy and society. The deputy director also pointed out the need for reinforcement of official policy guidance, easing institutional constraints, and “optimizing” an environment conducive to the blockchain space.
China has long been famous for high interest for blockchain technology, despite the central government’s mixed feelings on cryptocurrency exchanges, initial coin offerings and crypto mining. According to data from Qixin, the number of companies registered with the word “blockchain” in their names surged from January to July 16, 2018, made up 3,078 companies, up from 555 for the whole of last year.
In comparison, there are currently a total of 817 companies in the US and 335 in the UK using blockchain in their registered names. About 41 per cent of start-ups that received funding in China in the first quarter of last year were blockchain-related enterprises. The country is currently home to more than 4,000 firms that identify with blockchain.
As it was reported by Coinspeaker earlier in June, it has been revealed that a digital currency research lab set up by the People’s Bank of China has submitted 41 patent applications, which means the world’s second-largest economy is planning a more prominent role in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The Chinese president Xi Jinping praises blockchain as an example of a “new generation” of technologies that are “reconstructing the global innovation map and reshaping the global economic structure.”
China’s government believes that the development of national standards for blockchain will help to guide the industry in a structured way of progress. That’s why China has started working on national standards for the blockchain technology and is confident that it would complete this process by 2019.
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