Blockchain: the new official love of the Chinese government

"The value of the blockchain is ten times higher than that of the Internet." It is with these words that the Central Television of China (CCTV), the main broadcaster controlled by the government, described last week the decentralized technology.

This was the first broadcast (video in Chinese) of the powerful state media intended to inform a wide audience about the benefits and values ​​of the blockchain .

This change of tone may seem rather surprising. China had indeed banned at the end of last year the cryptos exchanges and the ICOs . Yet, the country seems to be opening up more and more officially to technology .

For example, at an annual academic conference at the Chinese Academy of Sciences held in late May, Chinese President Xi Jinping publicly mentioned for the first time his vision of the impact of the blockchain in a speech :

"Since the beginning of the 21st century, global scientific and technological innovation has entered a period of unprecedented intense activity ... A new generation of technology represented by artificial intelligence, quantum information, mobile Internet of Things and blockchain accelerates revolutionary applications. "

That's not all. Earlier in early May, the Chinese State Council issued an order to urge local authorities to speed up the development of blockchain technology.

This Order proposes a series of strategies to deepen the reform and opening of the Guangdong Province Pilot Free Trade Area, which integrates Hong Kong and Macao, and aims to build an open market to the world and to better serve mainland China.

According to this document, it is:

"Building a regional stock market in Guangdong, according to the opening of the capital market, the timely introduction of Hong Kong, Macao and international investment institutions to participate in transactions. We will vigorously develop financial technology and accelerate the research and application of blockchain and big data technologies in the context of legal compliance. "

Yet, if China seems to be opening up on blockchain technology, it has already made it clear that it is not interested in cryptocurrency. His interest thus seems to be more on private blockchains than on public blockchains . But the foundation of this strategy may be more political. By banning cryptocurrencies, China rejects the fundamental concepts generally associated with blockchain technology such as the free movement of capital and uncontrolled money by governments . And it is for this reason that Xu Hao, a high Chinese official, has made things clear:

"When we talk about blockchain, a lot of people talk about decentralization. I would like to make a small change to the word. I think the essence of blockchain is disintermediation. There is no way to get rid of centralization. "