China to Expedite Development of Blockchain Technology 中国将加快区块链技术发展

妮可·饶

Word in China is out1 about blockchain technology， as the government made clear in the Informatization Strategy published in December of 2016. The strategy states， “The internet of things， cloud computing， large data， artificial intelligence， machine learning， blockchain … will drive the evolution of everything—digital， network and intelligent services will be everywhere.”2

It was an official endorsement3 for the new digital age and a big boost for blockchain technology. The Standardization Administration of China （SAC）， an organization authorized by the State Council of China， announced on November 20， 2019 that it was planning to establish a national standards committee for blockchain technology—a move expected to boost the countrys high-tech innovation.

China on its way to dominate blockchain innovations

China is quickly outpacing4 its peers including the US， Japan， and South Korea in blockchain-related patent filings， Japanese research firm Astamuse said in a recent report. Chinese firms and government organizations filed a combined 7，600 blockchain-related patent applications from 2009 to 2018.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba， Ping Ans fintech5 arm OneConnect， and state-owned telecom operator China Unicom are the top three blockchain patent holders in China， according to a report published by Chinese blockchain analytics firm Block Data. Other notable companies in the top 10 include tech giants Baidu and Tencent， Chinese insurer Ping An Group， and mining rig maker Bitmain.

In November 2019， Cointelegraph reported that Chinas blockchain development will see a compound annual growth rate of 65.7% from 2018 to 2023， and that the technology will exceed $2 billion by the end of 2023.

With China president Xi Jinpings recent call to embrace blockchain technology， the country is well on its way to take the number one spot in dominating blockchain innovations and overshadow6 the U.S.， which is apparently lagging behind quickly.

Xi identified dozens of practical use cases that should be promoted： loans， health care， anti-counterfeiting7， charity and food security， while he emphasized that blockchain development could help China to “gain an edge in the theoretical， innovative and industrial aspects of this emerging field.”8

Survival of the fittest

“Blockchain” is now a buzzword9 among the titans of industry. And in the race to participate， Chinese banks， builders， suppliers and retailers are pumping out blockchain solutions. With Bitcoin， Ethereum and Hyperledger vying for10 dominance， there are big names within China making moves into the space. A few of the big names include：

The Peoples Bank of China （PBOC）—The PBOC is reportedly close to the release of a government-backed digital RMB currency， which would put China at the frontier of digital currency adoption. And there are whispers within China that Shenzhen will be ground zero for the new digital economy.

This would pave the way for blockchain startups in China to move forward in digital banking， finance， record-keeping， supply chains， IoT， AI and more.

Wanxiang Blockchain Labs—Working with Ethereum， Wanxiang is the largest blockchain development backer in China. After purchasing 500，000 ETH tokens in 2016， it pledged $30 billion for the development of a smart city in Hangzhou. It offers open-source platforms for anyone to build upon， and launched an accelerator fund for developers， intending to put money into promising projects and integrate digital apps into Chinas 21st-century cities.

Wanda Group—Wanda Group is the worlds largest private property developer， with its own hotels， theme parks， shopping malls， AMC11 theaters， media companies and department stores.

In 2016 Wanda joined Hyperledger， intending to build smart apps for its businesses. Five months later， Wanda announced its blockchain platform Polaris for smart supply chains， pharmaceutical management， finance and invoicing.

Alibaba—Alibaba took a small step onto the blockchain in March 2017， when it teamed up with PwC to build a pilot platform to prevent counterfeit foods.

Alibabas financial arm， Ant Financial， has launched its enterprise-centred “Ant Blockchain Open Alliance” platform in February 2020. It is the first open alliance chain to share platform use rights that will allow small-scale and micro-enterprises and developers to foray the blockchain industry at lower cost to develop and launch their own applications.

Green Hand， meanwhile， is part of the Alibaba Group and specializes in generating e-passports for physical goods. By scanning a QR code， it enables identity verification， recording the process of logistics， origin and destination by sending the tracking data to a “block” that provides a unique identifier that enables customers to visit. This not only enhances the transparency of a supply chain， but also makes it impossible for counterfeit goods to enter circulation.

ICBC—The largest and most valuable bank in the world， ICBC is adapting quickly to the fintech revolution. The bank has established seven innovation labs in its head office for artificial intelligence， cloud computing， blockchain， bioidentification， big data and internet finance.

According to its 2018 Interim Report， smart banking application scenario construction has continuously made new breakthroughs， marked by the launch of API open platform. At present， the bank has created more than 900 various types of scenarios， covering the main aspects of peoples lives， namely， lifestyle， consumption， travel， financial investment， and public services， among others.

Other Chinese companies making moves onto the blockchain include：

Foxconn—The producer of Apples iPhones （for supply chain finance）.

JD.com—A leading online retailer （for consumer finance applications）.

Juzhen Financials—Banking and finance （to bring distributed technology to financial markets）.

Zhongnan Construction—A property conglomerate12 （for trading agricultural products）.

CreditEase—Microfinance and wealth advisors （as a supply chain tool for businesses）.

Shanghai Insurance Exchange—An insurance trading platform （for securing trades）.

Qtum—To bring decentralized applications to China.

Antshares—For decentralized registration and issuing， transactions， settlements and blockchain-based digital payments.

Things are moving fast and a lot of energy is being devoted to the technology. More Chinese blockchains are expected to enter the fray13 until we see leaders emerge and then consolidation14.                ■

2016年12月，中国政府印发了《“十三五”国家信息化规划》，其中明确提到了区块链技术。有关这一技术的各种信息在中国传播开来。该规划指出：“物联网、云计算、大数据、人工智能、机器学习、区块链……将推动所有事物的发展——数字化、网络化和智能化服务将无处不在。”

这是对新数字时代的官方认可，也有力地推动了区块链技术。2019年11月20日，由中国国务院授权的国家标准化管理委员会发布公告，启动区块链技术全国专业标准化技术委员会的筹建工作，此举有望推动中国的高科技创新。

中国正逐步主导区块链创新

日本调研公司阿斯塔缪斯在最近的一份报告中表示，在与区块链相关的专利申请上，中国正在快速超越美国、日本和韩国等国。2009年至2018年，中国企业和政府组织一共提交了7600份区块链相关的专利申请。

中国区块链分析公司链塔发布的一份报告显示，中国电子商务巨头阿里巴巴、平安金融科技子公司金融壹账通和国有电信运营商中国联通是中国区块链专利持有者中的前三名。排名前十的知名企业还包括科技巨头百度和腾讯、中国保险商平安集团和加密货币挖矿机制造商比特大陆。

2019年11月，据Coin-telegraph网站报道，从2018年到2023年，中国区块链发展的年复合增长率将达到65.7%，到2023年年底，该技术产出将超过20亿美元。

随着中国国家主席习近平近日呼吁拥抱区块链技术，中国将在主导区块链创新方面占据首位，美国明显很快就落到了后面。

在习近平主席强调区块链发展可以帮助中国“在这一新兴领域的理论、创新、产业各方面取得优势”的同时，他還指出要积极推动区块链技术在贷款、医疗健康、商品防伪、公益和食品安全领域的应用。

适者生存

“区块链”已然是各行业巨头之间的流行语。中国的银行、建筑商、供应商和零售商争相参与，推出了各种区块链解决方案。在比特币、以太坊和超级账本争夺主导地位的同时，中国境内的一些巨头也正向这个领域进军。这些巨头包括：

中国人民银行 （PBOC）——据报道，央行即将发行政府支持的数字人民币，这将使中国处于数字货币运用的前沿。此外，中国境内有传闻称，深圳将成为新数字经济的首个试验点。

这将为中国的区块链初创企业在数字银行、金融、记录保存、供应链、物联网、人工智能等领域向前发展铺平道路。

万向区块链实验室——万向一直与以太坊合作，是中国最大的区块链开发支持者。继2016年购买50万个以太币后，万向承诺将投资300亿美元，用于杭州智慧城市的开发。万向为任何人提供开源平台用于开发，并为开发者设立加速器基金，意欲将资金投入有前景的项目，将数字应用集成到21世纪的中国城市中。

万达集团——万达集团是全球最大的私人地产开发商，拥有自己的酒店、主题公园、购物中心、AMC电影院 、媒体公司和百货公司。

2016年，万达加入超级账本，计划为自身业务开发智能应用。五个月后，万达宣布其区块链平台北极星上线，可应用于智慧供应链、药品管理、金融和发票领域。

阿里巴巴——2017年3月，阿里巴巴与普华永道合作，建立了一个防范假冒食品的试点平台，向区块链迈出了一小步。

阿里巴巴的金融部门蚂蚁金服于2020年2月上线“区块链开放联盟”平台，这是业界第一次推出开放联盟链，开放平台使用权，使小微企业和开发商以低成本进入区块链产业，开发和推出自有应用。

与此同时，阿里巴巴集团下另一子公司菜鸟物流则专注于为实体货物生成电子护照。通过扫描二维码，菜鸟可以实现身份验证，并通过将跟踪数据传输到一个“区块”，记录始发地、目的地和整个物流过程。客户可通过系统提供的唯一识别码对该“区块”进行访问。这不仅提高了供应链的透明度，而且使假冒商品无法进入流通渠道。

中国工商银行——作为全球规模最大、价值最高的银行，中国工商银行正在迅速适应金融科技革命。工行已在总行为人工智能、云计算、区块链、生物识别、大数据和互联网金融设立了7个创新实验室。

工行2018年中期财报称，智慧银行应用情景构建技术不断实现新的突破，由此推出了API开放平台。目前，工行已经创建了900多个不同的应用情景，涵盖生活方式、消费、旅游、金融投资和公共服务等人们日常生活的主要方面。

其他在区块链领域有所行动的中国公司还包括：

富士康——蘋果手机生产商（用于供应链金融）。

京东——领先的在线零售商（用于消费金融应用）。

矩阵金融——银行和金融服务企业（将分布式技术引入金融市场）。

中南建设——地产集团公司（用于农产品贸易）。

宜信——微金融和财富顾问（作为企业的供应链工具）。

上海保险交易所——保险交易平台（用于交易担保）。

量子链——将去中心化应用引入中国。

小蚁——用于去中心化的注册发行、交易、结算和基于区块链的数字支付。

区块链发展很快，大量的精力正在被投入这项技术中。我们可以预见，将有更多的中国区块链涌入这场竞争，直到出现优胜者，之后是行业整合。 □

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）