On October 18, China’s Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission announced the publication of the second batch of authorized domestic blockchain information service providers and released a list of new approved 309 blockchain companies.
Chinese authorities have officially implemented the new ‘Regulation for Managing Blockchain Information Services’ (also referred to as the “Administrative Regulations”) on February 15, 2019. The State Internet Information Office later conducted a review and worked out a list out of blockchain service providers that comply with the new regulations. The first batch of a total of 197 domestic blockchain companies was published on March 30, 2019.
China has pretty much always been against crypto; however, it did adopt blockchain technology nationwide and implemented it in several government departments. Hence, the second batch of domestic blockchain providers now also consists of several government departments.
All of the approved blockchain firms comply with the Regulation for Managing Blockchain Information Services which includes controversial functions of censorship and it attempts to ban anonymous users.
According to the requirements of this regulation, China-based blockchain firms need to confirm identities of users during registration by an ID or a telephone number, are prohibited from using blockchain technology to create or promote contents that can be seen as a threat to China’s national security, and also need to build a database of users that could be accesses by law enforcement agencies.
Blockchain Companies on the List
The second batch of 309 domestic blockchain companies includes blockchain firms from various fields such as cultural tourism, education, e-commerce, justice, medical treatment and supply chain finance. There are several blockchain-focused startups that revolve around crypto mining and cryptocurrency wallets.
The list is comprised of popular initiatives by Chinese tech giants like Huawei’s HiCloud blockchain service and China’s e-commerce mammoth Alibaba’s AliCloud blockchain service. Also on the list, tech companies such as Beijing Easy Network Technology Limited, Golden Chain Technology Development (Beijing), Zhongci Network Technology, Linkage Advantage Technology. China’s traditional aviation industry giant China Southern Airlines has also registered its blockchain initiative, China Southern Airlines Chain.
There are, additionally, a number of major financial institutions and banking companies that managed to list their blockchain features such as the China UnionPay, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Ping An Bank.
Some of the government entities on the list are the State Administration of Foreign Exchange’s cross-border blockchain platform, the Hangzhou Internet Notary Office’s blockchain-powered repository service, Shenzhen Welfare Lottery Distribution Center’s lottery verification system and the Tax Bureau of the State Administration of Taxation’s blockchain e-invoice.
