China continues blockchain exploration at forum

China has been a developer and rapid adopter of blockchain, particularly in areas like finance, supply chains and energy, experts said at a forum themed on blockchain innovation in Beijing on Monday.

"China's blockchain industry has made positive progresses with more than 1,400 blockchain enterprises, 40 blockchain industrial parks and has been leading the blockchain related patent applications globally, " said Wang Jianwei, deputy director-general of the Department of Information Technology Development under MIIT at the forum.

Blockchain tech has already been adopted by industries as a solution for securing and streamlining processes across sectors.

Wang said "at present, China's blockchain application scenarios still focus on the financial field and needs to be extended to other industries such as the Industrial Internet and healthcare."

He also mentioned that tech and talents are what the government needs most and the ministry will support regional blockchain competitions in order to explore and cultivate new technologies and new applications of blockchain.

The northern division of the first "Xinghuo CUP" blockchain application competition was officially launched at the forum, according to the organizers.

BIF, a national blockchain infrastructure operated by CAICT, will provide more blockchain-based services as the tech becomes an increasingly significant part of China's technological landscape, said Wei Ran, chief engineer of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

He said international cooperation and exchange is an inseparable part of exploring the applications of blockchain tech across various industries.

There are dozens of governments and enterprises who need to build and deploy open sources to fulfill their needs. As a multi-project open source collaborative effort, Hyperledger provides full 'source code' and has partnered with Chinese tech giants such as Huawei, Tencent and Baidu to that effect, said Brian Behlendorf, executive director of Hyperledger.

Brian said he hoped to grow their partnerships in China, adding some alliances could be established to conduct and share research on blockchain tech across the world.

Hosted by CAICT and ABI, the Blockchain Innovative Applicative and Development Forum has attracted hundreds of people to attend.