Web 3.0 Is Significant to China’s Future Internet Infrastructure, Says Yao Qian

The director of the Science and Technology Supervision Bureau of China’s Securities Regulatory Commission Yao Qian has predicted that Web 3.0 will play a significant role in China’s future internet infrastructure, hence, more attention must be placed on its development. Yao’s opinion was published in an article dubbed “Web 3.0: A New Generation of Internet that is Approaching,” emphasizing the crucial stage of evolution of the internet that will mark the transition from Web 2.0 to a more decentralized and user-focused Web 3.0.

“After 30 years of development, the Internet is now at an important point in the evolution from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0. Strengthening the forward-looking research and strategic prediction of Web 3.0 is undoubtedly of great significance to the construction of my country’s future Internet infrastructure,” Yao’s published article reads.

Web 2.0 Flaws and China’s Web 3.0 Future Internet Model

While emphasizing the need for research, Yao predicted that Web 3.0 is going to overhaul the organizational form and the business models of the entire internet on the global scene. Yao criticized the limiting powers of Web 2.0 in which users do not have the right autonomy that they deserve. He outlined how users are generally indulged to participate in internet or social activities by the big tech, of which access can still be revoked.

Besides, users lack personal autonomy over their data, most of which are commercialized to gain ad benefits by big tech. As a major shift in position, Web 3.0 will be more user-friendly, granting users the powers to control their data, and how they participate in internet-related activities.

“Web 3.0 not only empowers users to manage their identities independently, but also breaks the natural monopoly of data controllers on data under the centralized model. Distributed ledger technology can provide a new self-controllable data privacy protection scheme. User data is encrypted and stored on a distributed ledger. Who the identity information is shared with and for what purpose are determined by the user, and only personal data authorized by the user’s signature can be used legally,” Yao wrote, adding that the Web3.0 economy is essential in giving the users autonomy in the face of algorithms.

Yao noted that the Web 3.0 ecosystem is safe and trustworthy, a position that the Chinese government has been looking to propound on despite its harsh stance toward digital currencies. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) asked all the financial institutions in the country to stop facilitating transactions involving private digital currencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and all altcoins.

While the broader Web 3.0 economy generally utilizes private cryptocurrencies as an integral part of the ecosystem, the Chinese government’s tilt towards this new future is poised to be hinged on the e-CNY. While the details remain unclear at this time with respect to how the government will structure its approach to the Web3.0 economy, what is clear is that it is ready to follow the similar incentive model that characterizes the decentralized internet world.