Blockchain tech should see future adoption

Blockchain technology should see widespread adoption in "intelligent industries" and financial transactions in China, experts said.

Blockchain is a type of technology originally developed as a digitized public ledger for cryptocurrency transactions.

Wang Feiyue, director of the national key laboratory for Management and Control of Complex Systems of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said blockchain tech could lay a solid foundation, in terms of data security and trust base, for the development of automation and intelligent industries.

Citing an example, Wang said smart contracts can help deal with the uncertainty and complexity of the real world while enhancing reliability and efficiency.

Wang likened the innovations of blockchain to groundwork for the construction of tall buildings. "The process can be hastened, lofty and firm," he said at the China Blockchain Tech Innovation Development Forum.

The forum, recently held in Beijing, gathered government officials, industry experts and business leaders to discuss potential adoption of blockchain tech, opportunities and challenges ahead of the sector's development.

Blockchain's hallmark is decentralization. Data can be shared among a distributed network of computers with no need for middlemen. After being recorded in a blockchain-based ledger, data can't be altered.

In March, China Banknote Printing and Minting Corp set up a research body in Hangzhou, focusing on blockchain tech. Its blockchain registry open platform, BROP for short, can provide enterprise users with ownership registration and information disclosure services which are verifiable, traceable and irrevocable.

Li Lihui, former president of the Bank of China, said blockchain can be integrated into financial products involving multiple participants and high complexity, as the technology is now able to calculate over one thousand transactions per second.

China, like many other developing countries, still lacks technical standards and specialized audit and verification systems, Li said.

He urged global regulators to speed up the development of formalizing blockchain finance and boost the cooperation of international supervision, especially on blockchain, virtual finance and virtual currency.

The comments were made as a complete industrial chain for the blockchain sector has emerged in China. As of March, the number of blockchain tech companies in China exceeded 456.

Tao Haijun, chief technology officer of TOS Chain, said his company is ramping up efforts to integrate blockchain tech into Internet of Things technology.

The company's solutions based on blockchain tech can effectively deal with challenges facing IoT, such as massive data storage, high concurrency and high transaction costs, said Tao, also the deputy director of the Huaxia Industrial Economy Research Institute.