China accounts for 84% of blockchain applications worldwide

A government official said that China is the country with the most blockchain patent applications worldwide, accounting for 84% of the total number of applications, despite the state’s continuous restrictions on the field.

Wang Jianwei, deputy director of the information technology development office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, revealed the figure on Tuesday. He added that blockchain helps “speed up integration with the economy, services for people’s livelihoods, smart cities, and administrative services.”

“Many blockchain patents apply not only to blockchain but also to traditional internet technologies, such as electricity,” said Gao Chengshi, a cryptography expert who is a founding partner of blockchain developer Shanghai Hashvalue Information Technology. cryptography and security.”

Blockchain is the decentralized ledger technology best known as the foundation of cryptocurrencies, starting with Bitcoin in 2009. Its open source nature and no central authority have made it blockchain becomes attractive for many applications around the world. In China, however, this type of “blockchain” is restricted, requiring it to be registered with the country’s Cyberspace Administration. China places high hopes on “licensed blockchains or blockchains that limit the number of people who can change the ledger.”

In 2019, President Xi Jinping said blockchain would play “an important role in the next era of technological innovation and industrial transformation.”

Between 2015 and June 2021, blockchain patent applications from China accounted for nearly 60% of the global total, followed by the US and South Korea, according to a report by think tank 01Caijing and consulting firm PatSnap patent.

However, only 19% of Chinese applications were approved, while US and South Korean applications had approval rates of 26% and 43%, respectively.

It is known that China has an inexplicable relationship to blockchain. The country bans cryptocurrencies, banning citizens from legally participating in offshore blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum. This could lead to China’s blockchain industry separating from the international community amid the rapid development of Web3 technology, the next-generation version of the World Wide Web that is decentralized through technology. blockchain.

The state-backed blockchain services network (BSN) has been planning to decouple cryptocurrencies from its platform. This month, BSN launched the Spartan Network, forking popular blockchains including Ethereum and Polygon Edge and banning interchangeable tokens used for cryptocurrencies.

According to SCMP