China Taps Baidu, JD, Tencent, And Other Tech Moguls For A Blockchain Committee

Some of the biggest Chinese companies have been tapped to be part of the government’s blockchain project. Among the picked are tech moguls like the e-commerce giant JD, the telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei Technologies, social media and tech Tencent Holdings, fintech firm Ant Financial Services, and search giant Baidu.

China’s MIIT Assembles Blockchain Powerhouse

As The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced earlier this week, the new “team” will go by the name National Blockchain and Distributed Accounting Technology Standardization Technical Committee.

According to the plan, the firms will be enlisted in one of China’s biggest and ambitious plans to create a national blockchain committee. The country’s top tech companies have been asked to step on board in the development of standards for the use of technology across several industries. The committee will consist of more than 70 researchers from various local government units, plus specialists from private companies, universities, expert groups, and also supercomputing centers.

The tapped companies are far from being accidentally chosen, though. Most of them have the necessary experience in utilizing blockchain technology throughout their business. For example, Ant Financial has just launched its blockchain platform OpenChain. Tencent uses it for certain gaming projects and charity endeavors.

China’s vice-minister Chen Zhaoxiong is being announced as the head of the MIIT committee.

The announcement comes shortly after there was a leak of the test interface of the digital Yuan, developed by China’s Agricultural bank.

Chinese President Xi Jinping On Board

In October last year, the Chinese president said that he supports the adoption and integration of blockchain technology methods. He made it clear that he understands and urges the method as an essential part of the country’s digital economy. He also noted that the development of blockchain technologies would be highly beneficial to China’s striving efforts against counterfeiting, and also to strengthen its healthcare system, and its credit checking processes.

The upcoming committee is clearly a sign that China’s government is definitely going on with a positive approach to blockchain technology.

China’s State Informational center has announced that a blockchain-based Service Network will be activated next month. The idea is for companies to be able to place applications using the technology, and that could happen a lot faster with government support.

This article was first published on Apr 17, 2020