The government of the Nanshan District of Shenzhen, a city in southeastern China, has inked a deal with telecommunications behemoth Huawei to propel the adoption of blockchain and other cutting-edge technologies such as big data and 5G.
According to The Global Times, the outlet that is considered to be the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China, the city will become a model for the semiconductor industry.
#Huawei and Nanshan government of #Shenzhen signed an agreement Friday to establish #Kunpeng industrial demonstration zone to accelerate the application of #blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data, and #5G, and forge the city into a model area for the #chip industry. pic.twitter.com/lazdU6b437
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) April 13, 2020
China's cryptocurrency
Shenzhen, which serves as a link between Hong Kong and China, is considered to be the country's biggest technology hub. It is the place where Huawei went from a small vendor of phone switches to one of the biggest telecom giants in the world with European-style campuses just outside the city.
As reported by U.Today, the People's Bank of China (PBoC) teamed up with Huawei to start testing its own digital currency in Shenzhen and Suzhou together with major commercial banks in 2020.
The pilot of China's central bank digital currency will involve a slew of industries, including healthcare.
Seizing the opportunity
China is yet to change its belligerent attitude to Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency has been banned here since September 2017, despite the fact that the country is responsible for 66 percent of the total mining share.
However, blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin, does hold a lot of promise for the communist state. Back in October, President Xi Jinping mentioned that they had to seize the opportunity presented by blockchain, spurring a massive crypto rally.
In 2019, China accounted for 22 percent of all blockchain-related VC deals.
Valeria Blokhina
Vladislav Sopov
