From 2019, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee identified blockchain technology as an important breakthrough for independent innovation of national core technology, to 2020, when the National Development and Reform Commission included blockchain in the category of "new infrastructure" information infrastructure, and then to the 14th Five-Year Plan, blockchain technology was listed as one of the key industries of digital economy for the first time. With the support of national policies, at present, blockchain is gradually becoming an important support for China’s digital economy along with technologies such as 5G, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things.
Recently, CCID Blockchain Research Institute released the "White Paper on the Development of Blockchain Industry in China in 2020~2021" to make an in-depth "inventory" of the development of blockchain industry in China. According to the survey statistics, although affected by the global COVID-19 outbreak, China’s blockchain industry showed a steady growth trend, and the industrial scale reached 4.815 billion yuan in 2020, a sharp increase from 2019. A large number of blockchain-related enterprises and technology applications have mushroomed in generate. From the continuous expansion of the digital RMB application pilot to the recent application in Shanghai and Suzhou, blockchain has been increasingly integrated into our social and economic life.
Policy support becomes a "booster" for blockchain industry
As a new technology, blockchain is jointly maintained by many parties, using cryptography to ensure the security of transmission and access, and can achieve data consistency, tamper resistance and denial prevention. Blockchain technology generally has the characteristics of decentralization, technology-based trust, difficult data tampering and traceability, high reliability, high expansibility and inclusiveness of systems and data, which is helpful to promote technological innovation and social progress under the digital economy. It is based on this that the state has brought the blockchain into the scope of "new infrastructure" and vigorously developed the blockchain.
According to the statistics of CCID Blockchain Research Institute, as of November 2020, there were 50 blockchain policy information released at the national level, mainly focusing on blockchain supervision, blockchain support and blockchain industry application; By December 2020, the local governments of all provinces, municipalities directly under the Central Government and autonomous regions in China had issued 463 supporting policies to support the development of blockchain industry, among which 219 related policies were issued by local governments in 2020 alone, mainly to actively promote the integration of blockchain with information technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, and to supervise and encourage the application in supply chain and finance.
From the perspective of the positioning of the blockchain special policy, all provinces and cities pay more attention to the development of blockchain industrial parks, actively cultivate and introduce blockchain enterprises, and build a road of characteristic blockchain development. As one of the important carriers of blockchain enterprise development and technological innovation, blockchain industrial park can accelerate the coordinated development of blockchain industry, fully integrate local scientific research, talents and industrial resources, accelerate economic growth and industrial transformation, and enhance the overall strength of urban blockchain.
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New infrastructure integration blockchain
On April 20, 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission defined the scope of "new infrastructure" for the first time, and the blockchain was included. Since April 2020, new infrastructure projects across the country have been steadily advanced from the deployment level to the landing stage, including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Shandong, Yunnan, Jiangsu, Jilin and other places, and many provinces and cities across the country have introduced the landing measures for new infrastructure projects.
Zhu Yan, president of Tsinghua University Internet Industry Research Institute, pointed out that the current economic development trend includes a "carbon", a "number" and a "chain". "Carbon" refers to peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutrality, and this strategy will have a great impact on the industrial layout of China in the next few decades. "Number" refers to the data element, which is an important element to drive the carbon economy and China’s future industrial structure adjustment. "Chain" refers to blockchain, and blockchain technology can solve basic problems for data element and marketization. Zhu Yan said that the industrial blockchain is different from the concepts of consumer Internet and informatization, and it can fundamentally solve many problems in industrial transformation. Blockchain technology is not omnipotent, but it can provide the underlying foundation for digital transformation and development, solve the credibility problem, and release more domestic demand for China’s economy under the background of internal circulation.
As a part of "new infrastructure", the integration of blockchain technology with other contents of "new infrastructure" can promote the deep transformation of industrial digitalization and create a new value system in the information age. Blockchain can solve the problem of data ownership in information infrastructure. In communication network infrastructure and computing infrastructure, the fuzzy right to use data will greatly affect efficiency. The introduction of blockchain technology determines the property rights of data, improves the credibility of data, and improves the operation of communication network infrastructure and computing infrastructure.
In addition, blockchain can promote mutual trust and interconnection of converged infrastructure. At present, the application of Internet, big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies is relatively simple and lacks effective interconnection. The introduction of blockchain technology solves the credit problem and promotes the interconnection of converged infrastructure. The introduction of blockchain technology can prevent tampering and improve the security of data in innovative infrastructure.
According to the statistics of China National Intellectual Property Administration, in 2020, the number of open blockchain patents in China reached 10,393. On the whole, the core technological innovation of blockchain has been further improved, and the technological innovation has diversified, involving mainly blockchain cross-chain, blockchain privacy protection, blockchain data security and other technical aspects. A variety of blockchain privacy protection schemes have been proposed, which can be roughly divided into three categories: technologies based on mixed currency protocol, technologies based on encryption protocol, and technologies based on secure channel protocol. In 2020, many technical teams such as Wanwei Chain, Ant Blockchain, Tiande Technology, Tencent, and Hengtong Group Quantum Secure Communication Team have made remarkable achievements in cross-chain technology, blockchain privacy protection, and blockchain data security solutions.
444 blockchain applications landed
With the great attention and active support of local governments, blockchain technology and industrial application have made great progress. Since 2020, blockchain has been implemented in many fields, such as finance, government services, justice, medical health, product traceability, charity, community services, smart cities and so on. According to the statistics of CCID Blockchain Research Institute, as of November 2020, there were 444 blockchain landing projects, and the industry application level was improved. The top three applications were in the fields of finance, government services and judicial deposit, accounting for 68% of the total applications. In addition, the blockchain is also accelerating in the field of traceability logistics and credit reporting. At the same time, the application field of blockchain is still expanding, and new landing scenes have emerged in the fields of smart city construction, community service and charity.
The number of blockchain enterprises has also increased substantially, distributed in all aspects of the industrial chain, and promoted the improvement of the blockchain industrial structure. According to the survey and statistical data of CCID Blockchain Research Institute, by the end of 2020, China had provided blockchain professional technical support, products, solutions and other services, and there were 1384 blockchain enterprises with input or output.
In addition, the number and scale of China’s blockchain industry development funds are constantly expanding. According to statistics, by the end of 2020, a total of 9 provinces, 11 cities and 1 foundation had set up 18 blockchain industry development funds, with a total scale of 45.7 billion yuan. Judging from the number of industrial funds established, the total fund size and target positioning, blockchain industrial funds in 2018 and before mainly focused on project and application development; In 2019, the blockchain industry fund paid more attention to seeking and helping the multi-level development of blockchain enterprises, thus establishing a perfect blockchain ecological service system; In 2020, the blockchain industry fund will pay more attention to the core innovation ability of enterprises, the input and training of high-end talents, and build a blockchain industry ecosystem with high quality, high level and high efficiency.
Experts believe that with the planning and layout of "new infrastructure" and the adjustment of national industrial structure, blockchain will further highlight the transformation and upgrading of pillar industries such as traditional manufacturing, software and information technology, and financial industry, and its application fields will continue to expand, gradually realizing the deep integration and innovative development of technology and industry.
□ Our reporter Li Caihong/Comprehensive report
Source of this article: Overseas Chinese Science and Technology News
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