China Promotes the Web3 Plan: Blockchain as a Fundamental Core Technology and Opening to Digital Asset Applications

Amid the growing global digitalization and the rise of the Web3 concept, the Chinese government has reaffirmed its strategic commitment to blockchain technology. Recently, several government departments in Beijing jointly issued the "Beijing Blockchain Innovation and Application Development Action Plan (2025-2027)", a document that outlines the roadmap for blockchain research, infrastructure, and industrial integration over the next three years. This plan positions blockchain technology as "a fundamental core technology for industrial digitalization" and notably includes signals about possible explorations of "digital asset" applications, which has generated considerable interest in the tech market.

Strategic Design: Three-Year Plan for Blockchain

The action plan published by Beijing significantly transcends a simple local industrial policy. It represents a clear elevation of blockchain technology to the national strategic level within China's digital transformation and industrial modernization. The document explicitly states that blockchain constitutes "an important foundation for the development of industrial digitization" with unparalleled potential to "enhance data trust and optimize process efficiency." This positioning indicates that blockchain is no longer viewed merely as an emerging technology, but rather as a critical component in building national digital infrastructure.

The implementation of the plan is scheduled for the period 2025-2027, with the aim of making Beijing a global benchmark city in blockchain technology innovation and a leader in digital economic development. The plan was jointly launched by multiple high-level government departments, including the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the Zhongguancun Administrative Committee, the Cyberspace Administration, the Government Data Office, the Economy and Information Office, and the Commerce Office, reflecting the collaborative interdepartmental determination and the high priority given to this initiative.

It is worth noting that in 2023, China had already published the "White Paper on Web3 Innovation and Development," which stated that "Web3 is an irreversible trend in the future development of the Internet" and committed to investing at least 100 million yuan annually to support Web3 technological innovation between 2023 and 2024. According to official data, China has managed to incorporate over 50,000 developers into the Web3 ecosystem, positioning itself as a global leader in this aspect.

Technological Framework: One Chain, One Network, One Platform

The central concept of the action plan revolves around the comprehensive framework "one chain, one network, one platform", aimed at building an autonomous, controllable, efficient, and collaborative blockchain infrastructure system:

• A Chain: Emphasizes the construction of a "next-generation blockchain system" that is technologically advanced, highly secure, with excellent performance and low Chinese autonomous control. This requires fundamental advancements in cryptography, consensus mechanisms, smart contracts, confidential computing, and distributed systems. The technical specifications include the ability to process over 100,000 transactions per second with latency below 500 milliseconds.

• A Network: Focused on the future needs of massive applications and data interaction, it plans to build a network infrastructure that supports large-scale node access, with a layered architecture and integration of multiple blockchains. This network will incorporate robust privacy protection capabilities, efficient cross-chain interoperability, and dynamic networking capabilities. The plan proposes specific technical indicators to achieve "reliable node storage at the petabyte level" and "reliable interconnection of blockchain networks at the tens of thousands level."

• A Platform: Establish a universal blockchain technology services platform that integrates basic functionalities such as reliable digital identity management, cross-chain data directory services, and standardized evidence storage services. The platform aims to reduce entry barriers for the application of blockchain technology across various sectors, promoting data security, reliable sharing, and efficient collaboration among departments, industries, and regions, with the goal of supporting "mutual recognition of hundreds of millions of digital identities."

Practical Implementation: Five Priority Areas

Unlike some countries that prioritize financial innovation in cryptocurrencies, China's blockchain strategy has consistently emphasized technological application to serve the real economy and enhance social governance capabilities. Beijing's action plan has identified five key areas of application and plans to create at least 20 "reference application" cases with national influence by 2027:

• Health: Use blockchain technology to ensure the authenticity, immutability, and secure sharing of electronic medical records, genetic data, medical traceability, and other data, improving the efficiency of reliable medical data circulation and the level of patient privacy protection. The technical specifications include the capacity to process 100,000 medical records daily with complete verifiability.

• Education: On-chain storage of data such as academic certificates, credit records, and learning outcomes to achieve credible verification of educational qualifications, combat academic fraud, and promote equitable distribution of educational resources and the establishment of lifelong learning systems.

• Financial Services: Apply blockchain in supply chain finance, trade finance, asset digitization, cross-border payments, insurance claims, and digital contracts to improve the efficiency, transparency, and security of financial services. Technical standards include systems capable of processing more than 10,000 financial transactions per second with complete traceability.

• Transport: Apply blockchain technology to achieve secure sharing and reliable interaction of traffic data ( such as vehicle information, road condition data, and transport records ), support intelligent traffic management, optimize logistics efficiency, and improve the level of urban traffic management.

• Artificial Intelligence (IA): Using blockchain to provide reliable traceability and copyright protection for training data of AI models, algorithm versions, and decision-making processes, enhancing the transparency, explainability, and security of AI systems, combating data biases and algorithmic abuses, and promoting the development of "Trustworthy AI".

To support this ambitious implementation plan, the document emphasizes the need to vigorously promote the construction of blockchain infrastructure:

• Hardware Level: Promote the research and development of "blockchain chips" with independent intellectual property rights, including dedicated chips to accelerate cryptographic operations and consensus processes, and (HSM) hardware security modules to ensure the security of nodes and data.

• Software and Network Level: Accelerate the construction and interconnection of national blockchain backbone nodes to form a basic network with broad coverage and reliable performance; vigorously develop private computing technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs and secure multiparty computation; improve standards and protocols for cross-chain technology to promote interconnection between different blockchain systems.

Significant Signal: Conversion of Digital Asset Value

In the context of China's strict prohibition on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, the statement in the action plan that indicates "the value conversion capability of digital assets will be improved through blockchain technology" has attracted special attention from industry experts. This wording has been interpreted by some analysts as an indication that, although the official stance towards "cryptocurrencies" remains firm, at the level of "blockchain" application, there could be room for the exploration and application of compliant and non-speculative "digital assets" such as blockchain-based data assets, intellectual property rights, digital certificates, etc.

According to sector knowledge data, China currently leads in blockchain-related patent applications, with a significant number of registrations in fundamental digital asset technologies. This position reflects a dual strategy: a strict ban on cryptocurrencies while intensively developing the underlying technical capabilities for controlled applications of digital assets.

The Blockchain Path with Chinese Features

The blockchain action plan published by Beijing clearly confirms China's dual political approach of "embracing blockchain technology while excluding cryptocurrency speculation". The government widely acknowledges the enormous potential of blockchain technology to enhance data trust, optimize business processes, promote inter-institutional collaboration, and empower the real economy, elevating it to the strategic level of national digital infrastructure and core technology.

However, authorities maintain a high-pressure stance on cryptocurrencies associated with blockchain technology, strictly preventing the financial risks, money laundering risks, and challenges to monetary sovereignty that they could generate. China's blockchain development path shows distinctive characteristics of "top-down direction", "state leadership", "strong application orientation", and "emphasis on regulatory compliance", in stark contrast to the relatively "bottom-up", "market-driven" models of "active financial innovation" and "gradual regulatory exploration" of Western countries.

The release of the Action Plan for the Development of Blockchain Innovation and Applications in Beijing is not simply a regional plan for the capital, but a manifestation of the Chinese national will to regard blockchain/Web3 as "an irreversible trend in the future development of networks." It indicates that blockchain development in China is accelerating from the initial exploratory stage towards a new phase of systematic and large-scale institutional development led by the government.

Although the space for cryptocurrencies in China remains limited, blockchain technology itself, as a fundamental infrastructure that empowers hundreds of industries, has broad development prospects. In the coming years, more innovative applications are expected to materialize, with blockchain integrating more deeply into the operation of the economy and society. Whether the exploration of "digital asset value conversion" will open new possibilities under the premise of regulatory compliance will be a focus worthy of ongoing attention. In any case, China is firmly advancing on the blockchain path to build a digital power with its distinctive characteristics.