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Blockchain
ChinaDiplomacy

Chinese President Xi Jinping calls for more research, investment into blockchain technology

  • ‘Greater effort should be made to strengthen basic research and boost innovation capacity,’ leader tells Communist Party’s elite
  • Technology can be used to ‘empower industries, increase efficiency and lower costs’, industry expert says

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Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for more research and investment into blockchain technology. Shutterstock
Liu Zhen
Chinese President Xi Jinping has appealed for greater urgency in the development of blockchain technology in a move analysts say could open up a new front in the country’s growing rivalry with the United States.
As general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Xi chaired a meeting on the subject with senior cadres.

Blockchain would play “an important role in the next round of technological innovation and industrial transformation”, Xinhua quoted him as saying at a group study session for members of the Politburo on Thursday.

As such it should be made a key part of the country’s innovation programme, and investment in the sector should be increased, he said.

“Major countries are stepping up their efforts to plan the development of blockchain technology. Greater effort should be made to strengthen basic research and boost innovation capacity to help China gain an edge in the theoretical, innovative and industrial aspects of this emerging field.”

Xi said blockchain technology could be applied to many different fields, including finance, education, employment, elderly care, poverty alleviation, health care and food security, infrastructure management and public services.

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