China’s new blockchain infrastructure to digitize securities and futures

Chinese regulators, including the Securities Association of China and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), held a meeting in Beijing to promote blockchain technology in the securities industry and discuss regulations.

In the symposium organized by China Securities Industry Alliance Chain and Off-Site Alliance Chain, the deputy director-general of the Science and Technology Regulatory Bureau of CSRC, Jiang Dongxing, spoke about the consensus of Chinese businesses to digitally transform the securities and futures industry.

Citing the 14th Five-Year Plan, which details China’s intent to use blockchain technology, Dongxing mentioned that blockchain technology can build a trust mechanism in the network environment, which will be key to the digitization of the securities and futures industry.

The announcement also states that the Science and Technology Bureau will base the construction of the said blockchain on a two-tier structure: a chain of custody (for tamper-resistant forensic evidence of asset control and transfers) and business (smart contracts and supply chain).

In addition, Dongxing has asked Chinese businesses to jointly explore and build a blockchain, smart contracts and related regulatory services.

Related: Chinese banks explore e-yuan for selling investment funds and insurance

Along with the push to develop new blockchain developments, China has also amped up efforts to explore new markets for the digital yuan.

On Tuesday, state-backed Chinese banks, including Bank of Communications (Bocom) and China Construction Bank (CCB), will reportedly allow citizens to buy investment funds and insurance products using the e-yuan, a digital form of the local currency.

While Bocom continues to explore e-yuan use cases around fund management and the insurance space, CCB has reportedly opened up a total of 8.42 million e-yuan wallets for citizens and companies.