While Capitol Hill debates the impact of social media giant Facebook’s digital currency libra, China is pushing forward with blockchain innovation.
Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, said the country should “seize the opportunity” for innovation provided by blockchain technology. Speaking to a committee in Beijing on Oct. 24, President Xi lauded the technological benefits of blockchain, including improvements in the financial sector and integration into mass transit.
Xi said,
We must take the blockchain as an important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies.
He continued,
[We must] clarify the main direction, increase investment, focus on a number of key core technologies, and accelerate the development of blockchain technology and industrial innovation.
While China has imposed strict regulations on the trading and mining of cryptoassets, the country has been at the forefront of digital currencies. Reports earlier in the year alleged the country’s central bank was prepared to launch a digital currency and could begin its distribution as soon as November 2019.
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