Guangzhou, China Introduces 1 Billion Yuan Fund to Accelerate Blockchain Development

Guangzhou state government launches a 1 billion yuan fund, approx. $140 million USD, to boost blockchain innovations in the state. Guangzhou Huangpu District and Guangzhou Development Zone, who make up strategic technological decisions came up with the “Detailed Rules for Implementing Several Measures for Accelerating Blockchain Industry Leading Change”.

Guangzhou’s $140 million fund to accelerate social capital agglomeration in blockchain

On October 29 reports emerged from top economic news sites in China confirming the state of Guangzhou is introducing a 1 billion Chinese yuan ($140 million USD) subsidy fund to accelerate blockchain development in the region. The fund will be available to blockchain initiatives from different districts with an eye on government service enhancement and technological progress.

According to a thread of tweets from Primitive Crypto Fund Co-founder, Dovey Wan, Guangzhou will release government funding amounting to $140 million USD to increase capital funding in blockchain based products focused on federated governance chain products and public blockchains with no incentives (tokens).

the subsidy level is

public chain (without token) up to $1.5M, federated chain up to $500k, 20 blockchain service companies each up to a few hundred k, dapp dedicated in public service each up to 1.5M, and there will be tons of money for local universities' training

— Dovey 以德服人 Wan 🗝 🦖 (@DoveyWan) October 30, 2019

One of the largest economic and business news outlets in China, Caijing, reports plans to share the fund between the two major categories with a public chain construction receiving a maximum of 10 million (~1.4 million USD) and the alliance chains receiving a maximum of 3 million yuan. There remain doubts on what a public blockchain without a token will look like as the lack of incentives means the network will not be secured.

China accelerates efforts in blockchain

Earlier in April the state started integrating blockchain and artificial intelligence in operations applying the system to issue business licenses on an immutable platform. China is seeing rapid adoption in blockchain technology despite the ban on crypto exchanges and ICOs. The recent speech by President XI Jinping on efforts to integrate blockchain in systems further shows the commitment by the government.