The government in China is planning a specialized blockchain research center in Beijing to aid the country’s digitization agenda.
China is reportedly launching a national blockchain research center to further facilitate blockchain technology adoption. The East Asian country seeks to speed up industrial use cases of blockchain technology despite its well-documented crackdown on cryptocurrencies.
According to local media reports, China is looking to site its blockchain research center, the National Blockchain Technology Innovation Center, in Beijing. This facility would establish a research network with a group of supporting players, including blockchain firms, local universities, and think tanks. The consortium’s primary objective would be to explore essential blockchain technologies to advance China’s sweeping digitization.
More Details on China Blockchain Research Center
The Beijing Academy of Blockchain and Edge Computing (BABEC) will be in charge of the new crypto-friendly institution. BABEC already enjoys popularity for developing Chang’an Chain or ChainMaker blockchain, an initiative backed by a vast ecosystem of corporations. Most of these business corporations, such as banking powerhouse China Construction Bank and telecoms operator China Unicom, are state-owned.
The current number of transactions per second (TPS) executable by the ChainMaker initiative is 240 million. This capacity stood at a mere 100,000 TPS back in 2021.
In recent years, China has positioned itself as a blockchain nation brimming with limitless potential. Last September, Beijing reported that an overwhelming 84% of all blockchain applications filed across the globe are from China. However, despite the nation’s continued push for blockchain technology, its approval rate remains significantly low. For instance, only 19% of the total filed applications received approval. Furthermore, cryptography expert Gao Chengsh also drew attention to the broad scope of such applications. According to Chengsh, also a founding partner of blockchain developer Shanghai Hashvalue Information Technology:
“Many of the blockchain patents don’t apply to blockchain only, but also traditional internet technology, such as privacy computing and cryptography.”
e-CNY
China has also been promoting its central bank digital currency (CBDC), e-CNY, as part of its blockchain-promoting efforts. So far, the country’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), has disbursed millions of dollars in digital yuan across China. However, China’s CBDC continues to see low use cases, with cumulative e-CNY transactions only surpassing 100 billion yuan, or $14 billion, last October.
In December, a former PBoC official expressed dissatisfaction at the underutilization of the digital yuan. At the time, the former Director General of Research at the People’s Bank of China, Xie Ping, said e-CNY usage has been low and highly inactive.
Last February, China sought to promote the digital yuan by making it available for transactions at the Beijing Olympics. The PBoC made the centralized digital currency available to locals as well as foreign athletes and visitors at the sporting event.
Reports stated that more than $315,761 worth of daily payments were made using the digital yuan during the Olympics. At the time, this figure suggested a positive trend in the currency’s advanced trials, but in hindsight, it did not prove to be the case.
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Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge.
When he’s not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.
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Tolu Ajiboye