China close to releasing national blockchain standards, official reveals

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An official at a Chinese national standardization agency has revealed that the country is inching closer to releasing national blockchain standards. The official stated that the standards are awaiting approval and will most likely debut in 2022.

China has heeded the call of its leader, President Xi Jinping, who in 2019 called for the nation to embrace blockchain on virtually all levels and take the global lead. The country has continued to see blockchain adoption, both at a provincial and national level.

According to a local media report, the government is now seeking to set official standards for the emerging technology. The China Electronics Standardization Institute is participating in the development of these standards, an official has revealed.

Li Ming, the director of the blockchain research office at the Institute revealed at a recent event that the standards have been drafted and are now awaiting approval. He expects the Institute to release these standards in the coming year.

Standards are integral to the development and mainstream appeal of any industry, Ming stated during the Fifth China Blockchain Development Competition held in Chengdu city, Sichuan province.

According to the official, developing standards for any industry is a painstaking process that involves massive research on the technology, its application, and implications while weighing the scope of standardization to truly stimulate growth.

“If you simply look at any standard, it is just a few pieces of paper. We need to use talent training, development competitions, laboratories, application demonstrations, open source communities, and even capital to truly apply the standards to the industry,” he told the attendees in his speech.

The blockchain competition has been held annually since 2017. It brings together teams from across China to compete for the most cutting-edge and impactful application of blockchain technology to solve everyday challenges. Sichuan province has been the leader in these competitions, with Ming revealing that in the latest edition, the province accounted for close to 20% of all submissions.

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