0/ At the opening of the joint annual conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering (i.e. a group of China’s scientific and engineering elites), Chinese President Xi Jin Ping makes reference to blockchain technology. Takeaways...
1/ Xi says (this is roughly translated) that the new generation of technological revolution is restructuring the global economic structures-- namely, these are: AI, quantum computing, IoT, telecommunications, and blockchain technology. (xinhuanet.com/politics/leade…)
2/ Xi also emphasized that technological self-reliance was central to China’s firm standing on the world stage. (“Self-determination and innovation is the unavoidable path ... to climb to the world’s top as a leading player in technology.")
3/ China is determined to double down on its efforts to improve its tech sector, both in human capital and in funding dedicated to research & development. In Q1, we have seen local Chinese governments throw funding in billion-dollar blockchain investments funds.
4/ Already in other tech sectors, China is overtaking the U.S. (For example, AI startups funding: ft.com/content/1f58b2…) The two technologies fuelling the AI drive in China are facial recognition (terrifying..) and AI chips (a direct challenge to US-made chips).
5/ It is easy to ignore China's tech development from the (western-centric) tech bubble here, but that does not mean it is not growing exponentially. Of course, China also recognizes the tech gap between the U.S. and China-- and that contributes to the sense of urgency to build.
6/ There are of course implications of China's ban on cryptocurrencies and ICOs (and what that means for its censorship mechanism), and that will only get more complicated with time.
7/ Notwithstanding, the fact that blockchain technology got mentioned explicitly by Xi Jinping in a national speech means that the Chinese government is determined to give it the space and funding to develop. This will be an interesting and highly importance space to watch.
