China must lead on blockchain, chief executive of US-listed company tells Beijing conference

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There will be a ‘main blockchain that dominates the market’, meet supported by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology hears

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The People’s Bank of China said last year that about 90 per cent of ICOs launched in mainland China were fraudulent. With the release of a white paper, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology wants to move away from the ‘fluff’ in the blockchain industry, and speed up the use of this technology in more mainstream sectors. Photo: Simon Song

Amanda Lee

Published: 1:03pm, 22 May 2018Updated: 2:44pm, 20 Oct 2020

China cannot miss out on being a front runner when it comes to blockchain, which could have huge implications for its economy, Chen Lei, the chief executive of Xunlei, a US-listed technology company, said at a conference in Beijing on Monday.

“I believe there will be a main blockchain that dominates the market,” Chen said during a conference on blockchain supported by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. “I think China needs to encourage and invest in building one for the nation,” he said.

Chen said US companies had dominated the technology behind mobile operating systems, global position systems and microchips, and that it was important for Beijing to lead on blockchain.

At the conference, the ministry launched a white paper detailing areas that China should focus on. According to the document, Beijing should speed up the application of blockchain in industries such as trade finance, transaction settlement, insurance and securities, along with intellectual property, wealth management, big data, energy and health care.