IBM, Alibaba, Tencent join China’s local blockchain alliance

China has just announced its first provincial-level blockchain group.

Called Blockchain Innovation Alliance, the group has already over 100 well-known enterprises under its wings both domestically and internationally. Among its members are Tsinghua Unigroup, Huawei, IBM, Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu, Cointelegraph reported citing ChinaNews.

“The establishment of the Alliance in Chongqing, facing the whole country, serving the construction of the ‘Belt and Road’, and gathering elite enterprises from all walks of life, will certainly play an important role in the development of Chongqing’s blockchain application innovation industry,” said Luo Qingquan, Director of Chongqing Big Data Development Bureau.

The Alliance is located in Yuzhong District. It also announced the official launch of its public service blockchain platform called “Yu Express Chain,” which is based on Inspur Blockchain Services (IBS) and will serve as a blockchain engine and development service provider.

“Yu Express Chain will drive the industry to gather and develop. In the next five years, it will strive to realize the number of core enterprise patent applications of 1,000, serve enterprises and institutions, create 20 in-depth blockchain application scenarios, and drive enterprises to create an output value of 5 billion Renminbi,” said Zhang Fan, the vice president of the Inspur Group.

Meanwhile, the central bank of China said that the country is planning to create a digital version of its fiat currency. The central bank released a summary of the 2020 National Currency Gold Silver and Security Work Video and Telephone Conference and announced its priorities in the coming years including its plan to pursue digital yuan.

In 2018, digital yuan was also part of its priorities. The central bank said it would be pursuing it at a “steady pace.” In 2019, the reserve bank said it would “accelerate” the process and take a closer look at the trend in the crypto space locally and globally.

“The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) will undoubtedly further its research and development of the national digital currency with enhance top-down design,” the bank said.

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