Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:
Blockchain with 'Chinese characteristics' quietly takes
off with Beijing's blessing while shunning cryptocurrency
South China Morning Post
Sat, July 2, 2022 at 2:30 AM
The growth of China's blockchain market has accelerated in
2022, with the total number of services registered with the country's internet
regulator reaching 1,821, according to a review of government documents and
interviews with industry insiders.
The pace of certification for new blockchain services sped up at the end of last year, with the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) releasing new lists of recent ventures every two to four months, up from six to eight months from March 2019 through 2021.
The agency has released 197 lists in three years, with blockchain projects encompassing legal, financial, agricultural and intellectual property protection services.
The accelerated release schedule illustrates Beijing's determination to develop blockchain applications that align with the country's economic and technological goals, while maintaining tight control over the more decentralized applications for which the technology is known.
The country has banned the trading of cryptocurrencies, blockchain's original use case with bitcoin, which also effectively prohibits the trading of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on public blockchains like Ethereum.
However, an increasing number of Chinese companies are looking for new applications for blockchain, potentially opening up a huge market for services run on the technology, which is a type of immutable distributed ledger maintained by different computer nodes on a network. Market research firm IDC estimates that China's blockchain market could be worth over US$3.2 billion by 2025, with an annual compound growth rate of 47 per cent from 2020 to 2025.
Since starting in 2016, DataQin has made law one of the key areas for its consortium blockchain called Baoquan Chain, which Jiang said can turn "data into evidence and make evidence transmissible" by digitising secured notary services. Consortium blockchains limit who can participate in the network, allowing them to operate in mainland China's tight regulatory environment.
DataQin's focus on law paid off in 2018, when the Hangzhou Internet Court allowed evidence collected using Baoquan, marking the first case in China to use blockchain-based evidence.
The promising sector has even received the blessing of China's Supreme People's Court, which said in May that it aims to "build a blockchain alliance between the court and all trades of the society by 2025".
Many of China's biggest tech firms and some of their subsidiaries also have blockchain services registered with the CAC. Tencent Holdings, JD.com, Xiaomi, NetEase and Baidu all appear on the lists. Alibaba Group Holding, owner of South China Morning Post, and its fintech affiliate Ant Group, owner of Alipay, are also there.
The majority of registered services are for legal and financial applications and Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS), which allows customers to apply pre-existing blockchain technologies like smart contracts to their own businesses.
"It makes sense for China's blockchain development and the investment road map in new technology for companies to come up with general BaaS platforms as opposed to vertical blockchain applications," said Catherine Hong, a senior market analyst who monitors the BaaS market at research firm IDC.
Market revenue has maintained growth of about 90 per cent over the past two years, she added.
By trying to dissociate the technology from its most well-known use cases overseas, Beijing has fuelled a race to develop blockchain with "Chinese characteristics".
"Most of China's blockchain applications will be in the form of BaaS, as the country has already ruled out other mainstream ways tied to blockchain," said Bo Zhengyuan, a partner with research firm Plenum.
While cryptocurrencies are banned, banks have been exploring other financial use cases for blockchain. China Zheshang Bank, for example, has five services registered with the CAC, according to a list from 2019. These include services for personal financial transfers, receivables and supply chain management.
Some of the registered services have ventured into unexpected fields. One company named Blockchain Technology Shenzhen Research Institute developed a service to record family trees, catering to a growing demand among Chinese families to trace their roots.
A plurality of the registered services come from Beijing and southern Guangdong province, home to Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The regions have 477 and 352 registered blockchain services, respectively. Plenum's Bo said this reflects the demographics of China's tech capitals.
"The market is entering a new phase, from building underlying technologies to standardising applications and tools," IDC's Hong said. "With the rise of metaverse and Web3, both traditional and innovative scenarios have great potential."
Web3 is the term used to refer to a decentralized World Wide Web based around blockchain technologies. Projects related to the metaverse, conceived as a next-generation version of the internet where people interact in shared 3D virtual worlds, also often involves selling virtual goods in the form of NFTs.
At the same time, the requirement that blockchain-related projects be registered with the CAC has allowed the authority to gradually increase its supervision of related applications.
Tencent-owned WeChat recently said that accounts that display digital collectibles - the term used in mainland China to refer to NFTs on domestic blockchains - need to have contracts with blockchain companies certified by the CAC. Likewise, Alipay also only services certified digital collectible businesses.
Translation
根據對政府文件的審查和對業內人士的採訪，2022年中國區塊鏈市場增長加速，在中國互聯網監管機構註冊的服務總數達到1,821項。
去年年底，新區塊鏈服務的認證步伐加快，中國國家互聯網信息辦公室（CAC），從 2019 年 3 月到 2021 年的六到八個月發布一次新的企業名單, 增加到每兩到四個月發布一次。
該機構在三年內發布了 197 個項目，區塊鏈項目涵蓋法律、金融、農業和知識產權保護服務。
加速發佈時間表表明北京決心開發符合國家經濟和技術目標的區塊鏈應用程序，同時保持對該技術已知的更分散的應用程序的嚴格控制。
該國已禁止加密貨幣交易，這是區塊鏈與比特幣的原始用例，這也有效地禁止了在 Ethereum 等公共區塊鏈上進行非同質化代幣（NFT）的交易。
然而，越來越多的中國公司正在尋找區塊鏈的新應用，這可能為基於該技術運行的服務打開一個巨大的市場，這是一種由網絡上由不同電腦節點持援的不可變分佈式賬薄。市場研究公司 IDC 估計，到 2025 年，中國的區塊鏈市場價值可能超過 32 億美元，從 2020 年到 2025 年，年復合增長率將達到 47%。
杭州區塊鏈服務提供商數秦科技(DataQin) 的副總裁Jiang Lifeng 表示：“（在政府）註冊並不難，這是一種與監管機構保持密切聯繫的方式。” 數秦科技擁有三個法律和金融服務在 CAC的註冊。
自 2016 年開始，數秦科技 已將法律作為其名為“保全网”的聯盟區塊鏈作為關鍵領域之一，Jiang表示，保全网 可以通過電子化安全公證服務將“數據轉化為證據並使證據可傳輸”。聯盟區塊鏈限制了誰可以參與網絡，允許他們在中國大陸嚴格的監管環境中運營。
2018 年，數秦科技對法律的關注得到了回報，當時杭州互聯網法院允許使用保全网 接收證據，這標誌著中國首個使用基於區塊鏈的證據的案件。
這有前途的行業甚至得到了中國最高人民法院的祝福。最高人民法院在 5 月表示，其目標是“到 2025 年在法院與社會各行各業之間建立區塊鏈聯盟”。
許多中國最大的科技公司及其部分子公司也擁有在 CAC 註冊的區塊鏈服務。騰訊控股、京東、小米、網易和百度均上榜。南華早報的擁有者阿里巴巴集團控股,及其擁有支付寶的金融科技子公司螞蟻集團也在那裡。
大多數註冊服務用於法律和金融應用程序以及區塊鏈即服務（BaaS），它允許客戶將智能合約等預先存有的區塊鏈技術應用於他們自己的業務。
研究公司 IDC 監測 BaaS 市場的高級市場分析師 Catherine Hong 表示： “對於中國的區塊鏈發展和新技術的投資路線圖，公司提出通用 BaaS 平台而不是垂直區塊鏈應用程序是有意義的。”
她補充說，過去兩年市場收入保持了約 90% 的增長。
通過試圖將這項技術與其最知名的海外用例區分開來，北京推動了一場開發具有“中國特色”的區塊鏈的競賽。
研究公司 Plenum 的合夥人Bo Zhengyuan 說: “中國的大部分區塊鏈應用將採用 BaaS 的形式，因為中國已經排除了與區塊鏈相關的其他主流方式” 。
雖然加密貨幣被禁止，但銀行一直在探索區塊鏈的其他金融用例。例如，根據 2019 年的一份清單，中國浙商銀行在 CAC 註冊了五項服務。這些服務包括個人財務轉賬、應收賬款和供應鏈管理服務。
一些註冊服務已經涉足了意想不到的領域。一家名為區塊链技术深圳研究院開發了一項記錄家譜的服務，以滿足中國家庭日益增長的尋根需求。
中國西南城市重慶用區塊鏈系統來保護涪陵榨菜這一地方特產的品牌，全國這系統至少有五項服務與共產黨的管理和宣傳有關。其中一項申請是“向建黨100週年敬禮”。
多個註冊服務來自北京和南部的廣東省深圳和廣州。這些地區分別有 477 和 352 個註冊的區塊鏈服務。Plenum的 Bo 說這反映了中國科技之都的人口結構。
IDC 的 Hong 說: “市場正在進入一個新階段，從構建底層技術到標準化應用程序和工具”; “隨著元宇宙(metaverse)和Web3的興起，傳統的和創新的事件发展, 都有很大的潛力。”
Web3 是指基於區塊鏈技術的去中心化的全球广域网的術語。而被認為是與下一代互聯網 -元宇宙- 相關的項目，即人們在 3D 虛擬世界中進行互動，亦多數涉及以非同質化代幣 (NFT) 形式銷售虛擬商品。
北京一直看好區塊鏈，將其作為中國傳統產業電子化和幫助創新的一種手段。在 2021 年 6 月發布的指導意見中，CAC 和工業和信息化部呼籲 “加快區塊鏈技術應用和產業發展” ，以及合并區塊鏈與其他热门技术, 包括工業互聯網、大數據、雲計算和人工智能。
不過，DataQin的蔣表示，區塊鏈領域仍期待更多的實際支持，例如針對行業的政策和補貼。他說現在是“雷聲大雨點小”，用了一句中國諺語來形容只聲到支持聲音但很少見行動。
同時，區塊鏈相關項目在網信辦備案的要求，使得監管部門逐步加大了對相關應用的監管力度。
騰訊旗下的微信最近表示，顯示电子收藏品的賬戶 - 在中國大陸用來指國內區塊鏈上的 NFT - 需要與 CAC 認證的區塊鏈公司去簽訂合同。同樣，支付寶也只能經营已經過認證的电子收藏品業務。
So, the growth of
China's blockchain market has accelerated in 2022.However, the blockchain
sector still expects more practical support such as industry-specific policies
and subsidies. At the same time, the requirement that blockchain-related projects
need be registered with the CAC has allowed the authority to gradually increase
its supervision of related applications.
Notes:
1. NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. “Non-fungible” means
that it is completely unique. “Token” means that it can be transferred on a
blockchain. Essentially, NFTs are assets that carry a unique digital identity
and can be traded between users on a public blockchain like Tezos. Common
examples of NFTs include artwork, trading cards, comic books, sports
collectibles, games and more. Although NFTs tend to be associated with artwork,
they actually represent much more.
(https://tezos.com/non-fungible-token/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwtne75Dx-AIVCQutBh3tjwctEAAYASAAEgLolfD_BwE)
2. Blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) is the third-party creation
and management of cloud-based networks for companies in the business of
building blockchain applications. These third-party services are a relatively
new development in the growing field of blockchain technology. (https://www.investopedia.com/)
3. The Metaverse refers to a virtual reality-based parallel
internet world where users can interact with each other and with digital
objects in a 3D space.
4. Web3 is the third generation of the internet, and it is
built on the philosophy that the internet should be a decentralized network of
computers rather than a centralized one. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/markminevich)
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