Blockchain Technology and Digital Social Regulation Emerge as Key Themes at China’s Two Sessions in 2021

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The 2021 “Two Sessions” meeting of the Chinese congress has flagged greater use of blockchain technology in China as part of efforts to drive growth in the “digital economy and digital governance” during the period of the 14th Five Year Plan.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called for “accelerating digitised development, the creation of new digital economy advantages, and the coordinated industrialisation of digital and digitisation of industry” in the Government Work Report delivered at the start of the Two Sessions this year.

Blockchain technology is seen as a key part of such digitisation efforts, with the draft version of the “14th Five Year Plan and 2035 Long-term Target Outlines” (中华人民共和国国民经济和社会发展第十四个五年规划和2035年远景目标纲要(草案)) categorising the blockchain as a “key industry of the digital economy.”

“During the 14th Five Year Plan, supporting the development of blockchain technology will be of benefit to invigorating the real economy, improving social regulation, and raising China’s international competitiveness,” said Li Shijie (李世杰), a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and chief-secretary of the China National Democratic Construction Association to state-owned media.

Gan Lin (甘霖), CPPCC delegate, deputy head of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) and deputy-chair of the China Zhi Gong Party, called for “driving the integrated innovative development of big data and the blockchain with the economy and society.”

“Big data and the blockchain are entering a rapid growth phase, and the integration of technology with application is driving the upgrade of industry,” said Gan during a CPPCC teleconference.

Gan highlighted the use of blockchain technology for the creation of “digitised social regulation systems,” with the China Zhi Gong Party proposing the use of blockchain technology for “the integration and sharing of administrative information systems.”

China’s 2021 Government Work Report also calls for “strengthening the establishment of digital government, and the establishment of sharing and coordination mechanisms for administrative data.”

In addition to administration and governance, Two Sessions delegates also called for the increased application of blockchain technology within the financial sector.

Jie Xuezhi (解学智), CCPPC delegate and former chair and party chief of the Agricultural Development Bank of China (ADBC), called for the “full use of technologies including big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and the blockchain” in the financial sector, as well as “driving the effective integration of the banking system with data from the internal systems of core enterprises, as well as tax, judicial, credit and industrial and commercial systems.”

Jie called for “continually upgrading the online conversion and digitisation of supply chain financing, and the creation of supply chain fintech service models.”

“[We] should actively promote the application of blockchain technology to supply chain finance, and connect together data islands,” said Zhang Jin (张劲), CCPPC delegate and chair of Cedar Holdings Group Co., Ltd.

Zhang called for encouraging financial institutions and small and medium-sized enterprises to actively connect to blockchain platforms for the purpose of “sharing information and expanding financial service channels.”