China pledges to boost NFT, decentralized application development despite crypto trading ban

China intends to encourage the development of non-fungible tokens and decentralized applications as the country continues embracing blockchain technology — despite a cryptocurrency ban. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a document released on Tuesday that it plans to formulate strategy documents to clarify the development path of web3.

“The emphasis will be on key areas such as governance and industry, with encouragement for the exploration of new business models like NFTs and decentralized applications, expediting innovative applications and the construction of a digital ecosystem for Web 3.0,” the central government said in the document, set to address inquiries from Jonny Ng, a member of the CPPCC National Committee, the country’s top political advisory body.

The ministry added that it plans to launch pilots related to distributed digital identity to explore web3 digital identity authentication and management.

The central government’s latest encouragement towards web3 development comes after several local governments pledged to develop the metaverse industry earlier this year. Sichuan — a southwestern Chinese province that was once a crypto mining hub prior to the country’s mining ban — pledged in August that it aims to grow its metaverse industry to reach a market size of 250 billion yuan ($35.1 billion) by 2025.

While China banned crypto trading on the mainland in September 2021, the trading of home-grown NFTs persisted but remained in a regulatory gray area.

Real-name DID

Earlier this month, state-backed Blockchain-based Service Network China launched a national-level real-name decentralized identifier system in support of the country’s Ministry of Public Security research institute.

“China RealDID is viewed as an extension of Anicert’s Cyber Trusted Identity,” BSN said in a statement shared with The Block, adding that the system launch is a “bold step in personal data protection.” With the system, users can register or log into a commercial website with their DID addresses and private keys, according to the statement.

“Despite its ban on cryptocurrencies, China’s progress in blockchain technology is noteworthy, particularly in pioneering the Real-Name Decentralized Identifier to the Web3 domain,” BSN, the developer of China’s national blockchain infrastructure, noted.