China state-backed media outlet Xinhua has reported that the country will spend more than $2 billion in 2023 on blockchain technology. China is also expected to record a compound annual growth rate of 65.7% between 2018 and 2023.
Referring to a study by the US market intelligence firm IDC, the report states that a huge chunk of China’s blockchain spending was directed towards the banking sector in 2019.
Other sectors which spent considerably on blockchain technologies include manufacturing, professional services, retail and process manufacturing.
Xue Yu, an academic at IDC, asserted that official recognition will speed up blockchain adoption and increase the rate of spending. Earlier in 2019, a similar report stated that blockchain solutions related spending in the Asia/Pacific region, barring Japan, will reach $2.40 billion by 2022.
Xinhua also predicts a robust growth of blockchain technology in the next four years. Arguably the world’s largest news agency, Xinhua, placed Bitcoin (BTC) under limelight by calling the numero uno crypto by market cap as the “the first successful application of blockchain technology.”
Some online commentators considered the coverage the “first time Bitcoin got such positive exposure” from the Chinese government. The reports follow a sudden surge in interest towards crypto and blockchain technology in China that was supposedly sparked by Chinese President Xi’s suggestion to adopt blockchain technology.
Notably, other government backed media continue to use narratives such as “blockchain, not Bitcoin,” even though there are news reports hinting that the country will soon stop calling Bitcoin mining as illegal business.
Interestingly, the fintech subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce enterprise Alibaba, Ant Financial, has begun trial of its enterprise level blockchain platform.
