The National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China explicitly defined the “blockchain” as a new type of infrastructure for the first time in April. According to data from the Coinsay, among the 166 typical blockchain applications detected worldwide in May, 60% were in China.

Also during that time, at China (Jiangsu) Pilot Free Trade Zone Nanjing Area located in Jiangbei New Area, blockchain technology came into people’s life and was applied to community governance for the first time, which became a popular topic in media coverage. As a matter of fact, at Nanjing Area, blockchain enterprises are clustering, application scenarios are in rapid expansion, and blockchain products are being developed fast. This open highland of innovation has given the “chain” great potential.

The principal government official of Jiangbei New Area said on the 1st International Blockchain and Algorithmic Economics Forum at the end of last year, “with the advantages of the free trade zone plus the national new area, Jiangbei New Area is a great testing ground for innovation. It is hoped that it will become the place with the largest number of application scenarios of blockchain in China in the future.”

As early as 2018, Jiangbei New Area was the first in China to set up a RMB 10 billion-level blockchain industrial fund. The RMB 10 billion-level pool of funds has poured out a number of mature blockchain enterprises, with Rongzer as an example.

Rongzer Information Technology company in the Research and Innovation Park of Jiangbei New Area, the first blockchain company in China (Jiangsu) Pilot Free Trade Zone Nanjing Area, is also one of the first members of the global consortium blockchain.

As blockchain technology unlocked the gate to Internet Age 2.0, what changes have happened for the life of ordinary people? For Nanjing citizens, it began years ago when news came in May 2017 that it was no longer necessary for citizens to wait in long line for property-purchase certificate. Qualified applicants can easily do so on My Nanjing app, a public service platform for Nanjing citizens.   

This change was made possible thanks to the establishment of the world’s first ever governmental affairs synergy blockchain network under the cooperation between Rongzer Information Technology company and Nanjing Municipal People’s Government. Under the block chain system, data from the land, public security, and civil affairs departments will be compared and verified upon the submission of application, after which the certificate can be issued online.

“The distributive system of blockchain makes it traceable and unable to be tampered with, which helps resolve the issue of trust and responsibility division in cross-departmental collaboration”, commented Wang Jian, Deputy General Manager of the company. Rongzer was the first to turn the “blockchain + government affairs" scenario into reality. Now it has already set up the world’s largest reliable data network.

In addition to property transactions, dozens of projects concerning people’s wellbeing, including Nanjing’s business environment improvement, talent settlement, and online platform of government services, were also promoted due to the realization of cross-departmental and cross-regional government data maintenance and utilization under the facilitation of Rongzer company’s blockchain technology.

Skytech (Sinosoft Technology/Qingtian), a leading company in software industry, created a service platform (Zumoo https://www.zumoo.com/)  based on blockchain technology for foreign trade enterprises in April, 2019. In just over a year, it has become partner of more than ten Chinese medium-sized and large financial institutions, including the Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and China Zheshang Bank, providing services to nearly 2,000 enterprises and assistance in managing assets of RMB 2 billion.

The company, whose headquarters is located in China (Jiangsu) Pilot Free Trade Zone Nanjing Area, is exploring more possibilities in facilitating greater openness in economic development. “A new module named Global Trade Chain, whose preliminary schema validation has been done, will open in Zumoo in the second half of this year”, said Jiang Xiqiang, Vice President and Chief Architect of Skytech. According to Jiang, the company, now in cooperation with Alibaba International and Ant Finance, sought to develop a comprehensive platform of international trade and trade financial services based on blockchain technology as a step in the creation of cross-border trade ecology. The digitalization of the entire trade chain will improve certainty and thus, help promote trade and build credit.  

Zumoo provides buyers and sellers with order-to-payment trade and financial services, helps improve credit for trade finance by providing banks and other financial institutions with authentic data, and helps foreign trade companies in finding clients, just to name a few. On Zumoo, one can find overseas buyers, overseas buyer banks, Chinese sellers and banks, logistic service, customs service, etc. In a few months, access from the platform to overseas banks will be available and the whole procedure can be finished online. This will ensure efficient, safe, and convenient global trade services to all participants from home and abroad.

Nanjing was not Rongzer’s choice in its start-up period but has attracted the company in its growth, for the city’s pro-innovation environment will undoubtedly provide more scenarios for the application of blockchain technology. As for Skytech, a company with over two decades of experience in the field of government affairs big data which covers social governance in urban areas, smart and eco-city, urban emergency system, and public security, it embraced blockchain technology as quick response to the coming free trade era. The growing number of blockchain companies ushered in the “chain” era for Nanjing.

In order to promote the agglomeration of blockchain companies, Nanjing issued Several Policies and Measures on Promoting the Development of Blockchain Industry in Jiangbei New Area (Free Trade Zone) on June 5th. According to this document, priority will be given in nurturing future leaders in blockchain industry and the technology will first be applied in areas like government affairs and public services. And on the basis of current policy, companies with yearly R&D input of over RMB 10 million will enjoy additional subsidies. Subsidy to each company will be RMB 10 million maximum.

“Before policy-making, we paid visit to a number of blockchain companies in Nanjing, talked with them and did research, and then put forward this new policy tailored to their specific need”, according to a person in charge from the administration committee of China (Jiangsu) Pilot Free Trade Zone Nanjing Area. The policy included ten measures from facilitating company settlement and growth, offering stronger incentives to business operation, and encouraging patent applications and inventions to strengthening platform development and support for technology application, attracting talent, supporting skill training, providing greater financial support, and creating pro-innovation atmosphere, covering all aspects of blockchain industry.

Various aspects were taken into consideration in policy-making in addition to different types of incentives. And some measures represent pioneer moves in China (Jiangsu) Pilot Free Trade Zone. Based on this policy, newly registered companies, if qualified, will be able to enjoy preferential policies for high-tech enterprises. The policy also explores the possibility of establishing a research institute on blockchain technology in Jiangbei New Area, opening “blockchain+” scenario application, and offering reward and subsidy to talent in blockchain industry.

“We can see that Nanjing Area is committed to the development of blockchain industry with many scenarios open for companies to boldly test technology application,” praised Wang Jian. “We are confident that with joint efforts, this pro-innovation land with great openness will become a leader in blockchain industry.”