Despite China's stance on cryptocurrencies, Chinese officials have been aggressively developing its fintech industry, with a focus on blockchain technology. On March 28, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China’s fintech industry regulator, said it intends to raise the bar for the development of blockchain technology by 2025.
The information comes from draft guidelines published on the ministry’s website, which also calls for “all walks of life” to seek public comment on blockchain development.
China plans to clarify the level of design of its blockchain and distributed ledger technology standards system sometime this year, giving the public until April 28 to submit any further comments on the draft. The development is in line with China's "Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and Vision 2035 of the People's Republic of China," which sets a 2025 deadline for certain technological developments.
These developments include the digital industry, which lists the blockchain as the goal of "strengthening and expanding, improving the quality of communication equipment, core electronic components, key software and other industries."
In February, China announced plans to establish a new national blockchain research center. The center aims to connect Chinese universities, developers and blockchain enterprises to research core blockchain technologies to drive industry expansion. In September 2022, the Chinese government claimed that the country accounted for approximately 84% of all blockchain applications worldwide. However, it was revealed that only 19% of all applications submitted were approved.
Despite this, the Chinese blockchain industry is still alive and well. According to the national white paper, China has more than 1,400 companies operating in its blockchain industry.
