China’s Largest Banks Already Utilize Blockchain

Both state-owned banks in China, and some of the most influential tech giants in China, intend to launch blockchain software implementations. A white paper by one of China’s biggest banks shows that the blockchain is being used in the financial services industry for trade settlement, supply chain management, banking, and other fields. 72 Financial services firms have registered to provide blockchain-based services with the Government.

More than 70 financial services firms in China are implementing blockchain-based financial applications, including every state-owned bank and the biggest tech companies. That’s one of the nation’s biggest state-owned banks, according to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).

The ICBC said in a recent white paper that Chinese banks intend to use blockchains in fields such as trade finance, supply chain management, payment, digital invoices, and other applications.

China’s Notable Tech Firms Adopt Blockchain
Four of China’s biggest tech firms – Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and JD – are also building on their blockchain-based applications for financial services. Most of those blockchains will be based on permission, as the paper states.

Some different applications are mentioned in the document too. For example, ICBC as a whole has developed a cross-border trading settlement network between China and Europe, using distributed ledger technology and smart contracts to authenticate and coordinate shipping information exchanged by businesses, warehouses, customs, banks, and government agencies.

As per the white paper, China’s banks and businesses use blockchains to handle funds, monitor supply chains, issue securities, and track loyalty points for clients.

Approximately 420 blockchains firms-17% of those are in finance. One hundred and twenty financial services ventures focused on blockchain – were registered with China’s Cyberspace Administration at the end of 2019, the ICBC says.