China to Expedite Development of Blockchain Technology 中國將加快區塊鏈技術發展

妮可·饒

Word in China is out1 about blockchain technology， as the government made clear in the Informatization Strategy published in December of 2016. The strategy states， “The internet of things， cloud computing， large data， artificial intelligence， machine learning， blockchain … will drive the evolution of everything—digital， network and intelligent services will be everywhere.”2

It was an official endorsement3 for the new digital age and a big boost for blockchain technology. The Standardization Administration of China （SAC）， an organization authorized by the State Council of China， announced on November 20， 2019 that it was planning to establish a national standards committee for blockchain technology—a move expected to boost the countrys high-tech innovation.

China on its way to dominate blockchain innovations

China is quickly outpacing4 its peers including the US， Japan， and South Korea in blockchain-related patent filings， Japanese research firm Astamuse said in a recent report. Chinese firms and government organizations filed a combined 7，600 blockchain-related patent applications from 2009 to 2018.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba， Ping Ans fintech5 arm OneConnect， and state-owned telecom operator China Unicom are the top three blockchain patent holders in China， according to a report published by Chinese blockchain analytics firm Block Data. Other notable companies in the top 10 include tech giants Baidu and Tencent， Chinese insurer Ping An Group， and mining rig maker Bitmain.

In November 2019， Cointelegraph reported that Chinas blockchain development will see a compound annual growth rate of 65.7% from 2018 to 2023， and that the technology will exceed $2 billion by the end of 2023.

With China president Xi Jinpings recent call to embrace blockchain technology， the country is well on its way to take the number one spot in dominating blockchain innovations and overshadow6 the U.S.， which is apparently lagging behind quickly.

Xi identified dozens of practical use cases that should be promoted： loans， health care， anti-counterfeiting7， charity and food security， while he emphasized that blockchain development could help China to “gain an edge in the theoretical， innovative and industrial aspects of this emerging field.”8

Survival of the fittest

“Blockchain” is now a buzzword9 among the titans of industry. And in the race to participate， Chinese banks， builders， suppliers and retailers are pumping out blockchain solutions. With Bitcoin， Ethereum and Hyperledger vying for10 dominance， there are big names within China making moves into the space. A few of the big names include：

The Peoples Bank of China （PBOC）—The PBOC is reportedly close to the release of a government-backed digital RMB currency， which would put China at the frontier of digital currency adoption. And there are whispers within China that Shenzhen will be ground zero for the new digital economy.

This would pave the way for blockchain startups in China to move forward in digital banking， finance， record-keeping， supply chains， IoT， AI and more.

Wanxiang Blockchain Labs—Working with Ethereum， Wanxiang is the largest blockchain development backer in China. After purchasing 500，000 ETH tokens in 2016， it pledged $30 billion for the development of a smart city in Hangzhou. It offers open-source platforms for anyone to build upon， and launched an accelerator fund for developers， intending to put money into promising projects and integrate digital apps into Chinas 21st-century cities.

Wanda Group—Wanda Group is the worlds largest private property developer， with its own hotels， theme parks， shopping malls， AMC11 theaters， media companies and department stores.

In 2016 Wanda joined Hyperledger， intending to build smart apps for its businesses. Five months later， Wanda announced its blockchain platform Polaris for smart supply chains， pharmaceutical management， finance and invoicing.

Alibaba—Alibaba took a small step onto the blockchain in March 2017， when it teamed up with PwC to build a pilot platform to prevent counterfeit foods.

Alibabas financial arm， Ant Financial， has launched its enterprise-centred “Ant Blockchain Open Alliance” platform in February 2020. It is the first open alliance chain to share platform use rights that will allow small-scale and micro-enterprises and developers to foray the blockchain industry at lower cost to develop and launch their own applications.

Green Hand， meanwhile， is part of the Alibaba Group and specializes in generating e-passports for physical goods. By scanning a QR code， it enables identity verification， recording the process of logistics， origin and destination by sending the tracking data to a “block” that provides a unique identifier that enables customers to visit. This not only enhances the transparency of a supply chain， but also makes it impossible for counterfeit goods to enter circulation.

ICBC—The largest and most valuable bank in the world， ICBC is adapting quickly to the fintech revolution. The bank has established seven innovation labs in its head office for artificial intelligence， cloud computing， blockchain， bioidentification， big data and internet finance.

According to its 2018 Interim Report， smart banking application scenario construction has continuously made new breakthroughs， marked by the launch of API open platform. At present， the bank has created more than 900 various types of scenarios， covering the main aspects of peoples lives， namely， lifestyle， consumption， travel， financial investment， and public services， among others.

Other Chinese companies making moves onto the blockchain include：

Foxconn—The producer of Apples iPhones （for supply chain finance）.

JD.com—A leading online retailer （for consumer finance applications）.

Juzhen Financials—Banking and finance （to bring distributed technology to financial markets）.

Zhongnan Construction—A property conglomerate12 （for trading agricultural products）.

CreditEase—Microfinance and wealth advisors （as a supply chain tool for businesses）.

Shanghai Insurance Exchange—An insurance trading platform （for securing trades）.

Qtum—To bring decentralized applications to China.

Antshares—For decentralized registration and issuing， transactions， settlements and blockchain-based digital payments.

Things are moving fast and a lot of energy is being devoted to the technology. More Chinese blockchains are expected to enter the fray13 until we see leaders emerge and then consolidation14.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ■

2016年12月，中國政府印發了《“十三五”國家信息化規劃》，其中明確提到了區塊鏈技術。有關這一技術的各種信息在中國傳播開來。該規劃指出：“物聯網、云計算、大數據、人工智能、機器學習、區塊鏈……將推動所有事物的發展——數字化、網絡化和智能化服務將無處不在?！?/p>

這是對新數字時代的官方認可，也有力地推動了區塊鏈技術。2019年11月20日，由中國國務院授權的國家標準化管理委員會發布公告，啟動區塊鏈技術全國專業標準化技術委員會的籌建工作，此舉有望推動中國的高科技創新。

中國正逐步主導區塊鏈創新

日本調研公司阿斯塔繆斯在最近的一份報告中表示，在與區塊鏈相關的專利申請上，中國正在快速超越美國、日本和韓國等國。2009年至2018年，中國企業和政府組織一共提交了7600份區塊鏈相關的專利申請。

中國區塊鏈分析公司鏈塔發布的一份報告顯示，中國電子商務巨頭阿里巴巴、平安金融科技子公司金融壹賬通和國有電信運營商中國聯通是中國區塊鏈專利持有者中的前三名。排名前十的知名企業還包括科技巨頭百度和騰訊、中國保險商平安集團和加密貨幣挖礦機制造商比特大陸。

2019年11月，據Coin-telegraph網站報道，從2018年到2023年，中國區塊鏈發展的年復合增長率將達到65.7%，到2023年年底，該技術產出將超過20億美元。

隨著中國國家主席習近平近日呼吁擁抱區塊鏈技術，中國將在主導區塊鏈創新方面占據首位，美國明顯很快就落到了后面。

在習近平主席強調區塊鏈發展可以幫助中國“在這一新興領域的理論、創新、產業各方面取得優勢”的同時，他還指出要積極推動區塊鏈技術在貸款、醫療健康、商品防偽、公益和食品安全領域的應用。

適者生存

“區塊鏈”已然是各行業巨頭之間的流行語。中國的銀行、建筑商、供應商和零售商爭相參與，推出了各種區塊鏈解決方案。在比特幣、以太坊和超級賬本爭奪主導地位的同時，中國境內的一些巨頭也正向這個領域進軍。這些巨頭包括：

中國人民銀行 （PBOC）——據報道，央行即將發行政府支持的數字人民幣，這將使中國處于數字貨幣運用的前沿。此外，中國境內有傳聞稱，深圳將成為新數字經濟的首個試驗點。

這將為中國的區塊鏈初創企業在數字銀行、金融、記錄保存、供應鏈、物聯網、人工智能等領域向前發展鋪平道路。

萬向區塊鏈實驗室——萬向一直與以太坊合作，是中國最大的區塊鏈開發支持者。繼2016年購買50萬個以太幣后，萬向承諾將投資300億美元，用于杭州智慧城市的開發。萬向為任何人提供開源平臺用于開發，并為開發者設立加速器基金，意欲將資金投入有前景的項目，將數字應用集成到21世紀的中國城市中。

萬達集團——萬達集團是全球最大的私人地產開發商，擁有自己的酒店、主題公園、購物中心、AMC電影院 、媒體公司和百貨公司。

2016年，萬達加入超級賬本，計劃為自身業務開發智能應用。五個月后，萬達宣布其區塊鏈平臺北極星上線，可應用于智慧供應鏈、藥品管理、金融和發票領域。

阿里巴巴——2017年3月，阿里巴巴與普華永道合作，建立了一個防范假冒食品的試點平臺，向區塊鏈邁出了一小步。

阿里巴巴的金融部門螞蟻金服于2020年2月上線“區塊鏈開放聯盟”平臺，這是業界第一次推出開放聯盟鏈，開放平臺使用權，使小微企業和開發商以低成本進入區塊鏈產業，開發和推出自有應用。

與此同時，阿里巴巴集團下另一子公司菜鳥物流則專注于為實體貨物生成電子護照。通過掃描二維碼，菜鳥可以實現身份驗證，并通過將跟蹤數據傳輸到一個“區塊”，記錄始發地、目的地和整個物流過程。客戶可通過系統提供的唯一識別碼對該“區塊”進行訪問。這不僅提高了供應鏈的透明度，而且使假冒商品無法進入流通渠道。

中國工商銀行——作為全球規模最大、價值最高的銀行，中國工商銀行正在迅速適應金融科技革命。工行已在總行為人工智能、云計算、區塊鏈、生物識別、大數據和互聯網金融設立了7個創新實驗室。

工行2018年中期財報稱，智慧銀行應用情景構建技術不斷實現新的突破，由此推出了API開放平臺。目前，工行已經創建了900多個不同的應用情景，涵蓋生活方式、消費、旅游、金融投資和公共服務等人們日常生活的主要方面。

其他在區塊鏈領域有所行動的中國公司還包括：

富士康——蘋果手機生產商（用于供應鏈金融）。

京東——領先的在線零售商（用于消費金融應用）。

矩陣金融——銀行和金融服務企業（將分布式技術引入金融市場）。

中南建設——地產集團公司（用于農產品貿易）。

宜信——微金融和財富顧問（作為企業的供應鏈工具）。

上海保險交易所——保險交易平臺（用于交易擔保）。

量子鏈——將去中心化應用引入中國。

小蟻——用于去中心化的注冊發行、交易、結算和基于區塊鏈的數字支付。

區塊鏈發展很快，大量的精力正在被投入這項技術中。我們可以預見，將有更多的中國區塊鏈涌入這場競爭，直到出現優勝者，之后是行業整合。 □

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）