China: Lawmaker Proposes Creation of a National Blockchain Fund

China’s blockchain adoption could go a step further with lawmakers looking at the creation of a national blockchain development fund. Authorities in Beijing continue to push for more involvement of the country’s government in leveraging the emerging technology across several economic sectors.

National Blockchain Development Fund Under Consideration

According to Beijing News, Jieqing Tan of the National People’s Congress (NPC) — China’s legislative body — introduced a proposal for a national blockchain development fund during the annual “Two Sessions” meeting. The planned fund is part of a raft of new laws introduced during the parliamentary conference which normally forms the basis of government policies in the coming year.

The proposed fund aims at supporting blockchain innovation by providing assistance to local startups and helping them to become unicorns — having a valuation north of $1 billion — in the market. The NPC deputy also argued that utilizing emerging technologies will improve and modernize China’s civil administrative processes while creating more trust for its citizenry.

Back in 2019, China’s President Xi Jinping issued a rallying cry for greater blockchain utilization in the country. At the time, the Chinese leader described blockchain as a “core technology.”

According to Tan, the fund could help China become the leading nation in blockchain technology development in the world. Commenting on the need for a government-led blockchain development plan, Tan remarked:

“[The] bottom technology standard, middle industry application development to the top-level system design, the national blockchain technology industry and supervision [of the] three-dimensional strategic planning system should be well coordinated.”

The planned blockchain development fund also comes at a time when South Korea, reportedly wary of China’s advancement in the field is looking to support local startups. As previously reported by BTCManager, South Korea is looking to unleash a $400 million blockchain R&D war chest.

China’s State-sanctioned Blockchain Adoption Policy

If passed, the planned fund will be the latest in a string of government-sanctioned actions aimed at boosting the level of blockchain adoption in the country. China has already developed the Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) — a national blockchain infrastructure — already active in more than 100 cities. IOST Enterprise even joined the BSN project back in April 2020.

China’s appreciation for decentralized ledger technology (DLT) is not only limited to government as established giants like Tencent and SF Courier are also utilizing blockchain for different applications.