Tencent, Baidu join China’s national blockchain committee

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The government of China has announced details of the names of those set to make up its national blockchain committee, who will play a role in shaping policy in the country.

The central government committee is to be made up of some 71 members, including senior executives from Tencent and Baidu, along with executives from the People’s Bank of China and other organizations with an interest in blockchain technology.

The committee will be responsible for advising on blockchain policy and industry standards as the government continues to develop its regulatory approach to blockchain tech.

China has historically backed blockchain, despite a restrictive outlook towards digital currency. The details were released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), and means executives from China’s leading tech companies will be responsible for helping develop policy going forward.

Known as the “National Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology Standardisation Technical Committee,” the body was formally approved by the National Standardization Management Committee, and will be chaired by MIIT deputy minister Chen Zhaoxiong.

The committee will have five vice presidents on government staff, including representatives for the People’s Bank of China Digital Currency Research Institute.

They will be joined on the committee by executives from Baidu, Tencent, Huawei, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, and others.

Notably, Tencent has secured the most individual patents for blockchain, with 718 of a total 5,800 blockchain patents in the country filed by the company.

The list of committee members is now open to public comments, with a consultation deadline set for May 12, 2020. Respondents are invited to submit their feedback on members to the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry ahead of the consultation deadline.

The committee was set up to work on creating uniform standards for blockchain development and implementation in China.

With blockchain app development on blockchain emerging at speed in China, the committee will be tasked with ensuring developers have consistent standards for reliability and interchange with other blockchain systems.