Alibaba’s online shopping platform T-Mall will deliver foreign goods to customers in China tracked via Blockchain, the company reportedly announced early Wednesday along with its partner in the project, Cainiao limited, an Internet company focused on logistics.
Blockchain technology will be used to track the goods from source to delivery verifiable to consumers, the companies said. Because the delivery of the goods is tracked on a Blockchain, the movement of the goods from source to delivery will become transparent. Around 30,000 goods from 50 countries will enter the country through major ports across China.
Chinese consumers have bought items ranging from food and cosmetics to luxury yachts through online shopping. Goods from Japan, the US, Australia, Germany and Korea are most popular among T-Mall customers, a report it recently released said.
Matter of concern
Counterfeit goods have been a longstanding concern among Chinese consumers.
The announcement came on the heels of a one-page coverage of Blockchain by Renmin Daily, Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper.
According to Wang Jun, senior researcher at Tencent’s fintech think tank as quoted in the newspaper, China needs to develop home-grown Blockchain technology.
The article also explored Blockchain’s application in finance, charity, compliance and combating counterfeit products, a longstanding headache in China.
The coverage mentioned combating counterfeit goods as one of the possible applications of Blockchain.
Dan Burgin
Alex Dovbnya