According to CAC’s list of registered blockchain companies and related patents, big domestic players like Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent (BAT), HUAWEI, JD.com, and Ping An Group have developed their own blockchain projects. Many start-ups have also entered the market with independent blockchain technology and products. The adoption of blockchain technology continues to grow, with more enterprises exploring its use. Many businesses have already seen benefits from using blockchain to improve efficiency.
In China, blockchain technology has been implemented across various industries in people’s daily lives. Both blockchain start-ups and internet giants have embraced the technology, with many launching their own Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) products. Meanwhile, China’s financial industry, under the guidance of the People’s Bank of China, has conducted numerous pilot projects in the use of blockchain, such as in supply chain finance, trade finance, cross-border finance, digital currency, and more.
Ant Blockchain by Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group is a multinational conglomerate with a focus on e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology. In August 2018, Ali Cloud, the cloud computing services provider under Alibaba, launched enterprise-level blockchain services for cross-enterprise and cross-regional blockchain applications through its BaaS offering. Three blockchain technology frameworks are provided, including the self-developed Ant Blockchain, Hyperledger Fabric, and Ethereum for Enterprise – Quorum.
Together with Ant Financial, Alibaba’s online payment services provider, Ali Cloud has collaborated with government and financial institutions on various blockchain projects across industries such as cross-border payment, retail, justice, transportation, and logistics. One of their major offerings is the Ant Open Consortium Blockchain, released in September 2018, which aims to provide a one-stop platform for DAPP development and blockchain-based business solutions to both individual developers and institutional clients globally.
Tencent Blockchain
Tencent, the creator of China’s most popular messaging app WeChat, is a multinational conglomerate specializing in various Internet-related services, products, entertainment, artificial intelligence, and technology. In 2015, Tencent set up its blockchain team, and in April 2018, Tencent Cloud launched TBaaS, its blockchain service offering one-click deployment and multiple functions such as business channel management and smart contract management.
Tencent’s blockchain projects have been implemented across industries such as supply chain finance, gaming, government administration, and public service.
JD Digits by JD.com
JD.com, also known as Jingdong, is China’s leading online retailer and has had a blockchain development team since 2016. In 2017, they launched a blockchain-based anti-counterfeiting traceability platform and JD BaaS, which was followed by the JD Blockchain in 2018.
In 2019, JD Digits, JD.com’s financial technology arm, launched the first blockchain-based ABS (asset-backed securities) standardization solution, a significant application in the field of digital finance. The ABS blockchain solution leverages JD BaaS, JD.com’s independently developed platform, to optimize business processes and improve the efficiency of ABS issuance for asset owners, asset managers, law firms, rating agencies, accounting firms, custodians, and other ABS business participating institutions.
WeBank
WeBank, initiated by Tencent, became China’s first digital bank in 2014 and now has a large user base globally. In 2016, WeBank was part of starting The Financial Blockchain Shenzhen Consortium (FISCO), which now has over 110 members from the banking, securities brokerage, insurance, fund management, regional equity exchanges, technology, and universities sectors nationwide.
In December 2017, the FISCO open source working group, initiated by WeBank, launched FISCO BCOS, an open consortium blockchain platform. FISCO BCOS has been deployed across industries such as inter-institution reconciliation, real estate registration, arbitration, supply chain finance, tourism finance, and copyright registration.
Ping An OneConnect
OneConnect is an associate company of the insurance conglomerate Ping An Insurance (Group) and has developed the FiMAX S3C fully encrypted blockchain architecture to address privacy protection, system performance, and interoperability challenges in blockchain development.
OneConnect provides not only customized blockchain solutions for business entities but also creates BNaaS (Blockchain Network as a Service), which allows users to independently create and publish new blockchain networks or join existing commercial networks through the BNaaS Marketplace. OneConnect has applied its technology in trade finance, asset-backed securities, supply chain finance, and reinsurance industries.
Wanxiang Blockchain
Wanxiang Group (Hangzhou) is a multinational conglomerate that is one of China’s largest automotive component manufacturing companies. Since 2015, Wanxiang has been involved in the blockchain field and has invested in nearly 200 blockchain projects around the world, covering multiple fields such as underlying infrastructure and business applications.
In July 2017, Wanxiang, WeBank, and blockchain start-up Juzix jointly launched the open-source blockchain infrastructure platform BCOS. Wanxiang’s supply chain financial service platform based on BCOS has reached cooperation with several banks to achieve financing for many SMEs.
In 2018, Wanxiang launched the PlatON network, aimed at establishing cross-industry data exchange and collaborative computing infrastructure.
In September 2019, Wanxiang launched PlatONE, a consortium blockchain platform created in conjunction with Juzix.
Huawei
Huawei (Shenzhen) is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices.
In April 2018, Huawei launched its Blockchain Service (BCS) based on the Hyperledger Fabric platform to help enterprises efficiently and cheaply build enterprise-level blockchain applications on Huawei Cloud. The platform is closely combined with other basic technologies of Huawei Cloud Service to ensure reliability and scalability.
Currently, Huawei BCS mainly focuses on data management, IoT, finance, telecom operation, supply chain, and government affairs and started to support Huawei Kunpeng computing cluster in September 2019.
Qulian Technology
Established in 2016, Qulian Technology (Hangzhou) is a high-tech company that provides technical products and application solutions for blockchain.
Qulian’s blockchain products include:
- Self-developed blockchain underlying platform Hyperchain, providing enterprise-level blockchain network solutions for the technical needs of enterprises, government agencies, and industry alliances.
- Distributed data collaboration network BitXMesh, providing enterprises with data storage, data sharing, and distributed computing environment.
- One-stop BaaS platform Filoop, providing blockchain deployment, monitoring, operation, and maintenance services to help users conduct business on blockchain.
Qulian has achieved blockchain applications in various business scenarios including supply chain finance, digital assets, healthcare, insurance, public service, digital certificates, supply chain traceability, and energy assets.
ZhongAn Technology
ZhongAn Insurance (Shanghai) is the first Internet insurance company in China, jointly launched by Ant Financial, Tencent, and Ping An Group in 2013. Its subsidiary, ZhongAn Technology, has been actively using blockchain technology to improve the quality and efficiency of the insurance business.
ZhongAn has developed a blockchain asset agreement based on insurance products and has explored the tokenization of insurance assets. The company has also launched several blockchain-based industrial solutions, covering electronic contracts, digital identity, distributed encryption and storage, anti-counterfeiting traceability, depository, and supply chain, along with its BaaS cloud service platform.
