China continues to embrace blockchain technology despite its continued crackdown on cryptocurrencies, even going so far as to open the National Blockchain Technology Innovation Center in Beijing, the country's capital.
The center will establish a research network involving regional universities, think tanks, and blockchain firms to investigate fundamental blockchain technologies, according to a story from the China Daily from February 8. The outcomes of this study will be applied to advance China's digitalization and boost its blockchain sector.
In charge of the new organization is the Beijing Academy of Blockchain and Edge Computing – an outfit most notable for establishing Chang’an Chain or ChainMaker blockchain. 50 corporate corporations make up the ecosystem that supports this blockchain, most of which are state-owned, including China Construction Bank and China Unicom. By the time of writing, the ChainMaker is capable of 240 million transactions per second (TPS), up from 100,000 TPS in 2021.
In recent years, China has vigorously promoted itself as a blockchain nation. In September 2022, its government reported that China accounted for 84% of all blockchain applications filed worldwide. The approval rate is low, with only 19% of all submitted applications being approved, even though the actual figures may not change significantly.
The Chinese government is also focused on creating a central bank digital currency in addition to blockchain research. To encourage its use, e-CNY valued at millions of dollars has been distributed all around the country. However, as of October 2022, total e-CNY transactions had only reached 100 billion yuan ($14 billion).
A former executive of the People's Bank of China recently urged the nation to rethink its tight crypto limitations as part of its attempts to adopt digital advancements. A permanent ban on cryptocurrencies, according to the former official, might prevent the formal financial sector from taking advantage of many prospects, including those involving blockchain and tokenization.
