China’s first blockchain notary started business at the Beijing CITIC Notary Office on April 19. According to local reports, the service marks the beginning of a new era of the development of the notarial certificate and the official opening of the blockchain notary service.
The newly implemented system will allow certificate holders to verify the contents of the document by scanning a code. Through integrating blockchain technology, the developers of this new service hope to prevent the forging of documents and prevent fraudsters from taking advantage of informational asymmetries
During the launch, Wang Mingliang, director of the Beijing CITIC Notary Office, explained:
“The blockchain is essentially a highly credible data and computing technology that solves the problem of trust and cost in information asymmetry and uncertain environments. Notarization is the truth of civil legal acts, related facts, and instruments as per the law. The activity of proof of sexuality and legitimacy.”
Mingliang is of the view that the new service has both the value of notarization and the legal significance of blockchain certification.
Hu Jiyu, a professor at the School of Business of China University of Political Science and Law, added that blockchain has the advantages of efficiency, stability and low cost.
The CITIC Notary Office said that it would continue to integrate and explore this new application. It hopes to turn it into a “generally accepted consensus mechanism, and become a smart, effective, green contract formation mechanism through the court.”
Earlier this month, reports indicated that China has the largest number of blockchain projects in the world. Approximately 263 blockchain-related projects are in China. This accounts for about 25% of total global blockchain projects. More are still seeking to get the green light from authorities’ before they can fully begin operations.
About the same period, China’s Cyberspace Administration granted 197 blockchain related companies permission to operate within the country. Authorities are looking at granting more companies permission to operate in the near future. Among those already to operating include industry giants Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba.
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