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Tencent Gets Green Light for Blockchain-Enabled Invoice Standard

Chinese internet giant Tencent has been given the go-ahead by China’s State of Administration of Taxation to generate a draft for a blockchain-powered invoice standard. Tencent will be partnering with the Shenzhen Taxation Bureau and the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology to oversee this project.

The projectis called the “General Framework of DLT-Based Invoices.” Notably, this initiative has been favored by nations, such as Brazil, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. This information was availed during an ITU-T international meeting where e-invoice standards were discussed.

The thumbs up for Tencent comes at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping has askedfor an acceleration of blockchain development in the nation. Expressly, an e-voice standardization backed by blockchain is in tandem with Xi’s wishes for transparent, faster, and safer agency operations.

Li Ming, the director of the Blockchain Research Department at the China Electronics Standardization Institute, noted:

“The project shows China’s industry and market activity in the blockchain tech application. E-invoicing is an appropriate field for blockchain application probes and trials currently, which could, in turn, promote tech development.”

Tencent’s initiative prudent in mitigating tax-fraud

An e-voice backed by blockchain technology is advantageous because it has the capability of reducing or even eradicating tax evasion.

The issue of tax fraud is rampant in China’s underground economy estimated to be worth $852 million. This challenge is critical to the extent that sellers usually peddle fake receipts. Blockchain technology is being viewed as an ideal solution as it offers an immutable and transparent distributed ledger.

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Chinese Internet Giant Tencent on the Lookout for New Head of Digital Currency Group

Chinese internet giant Tencent, also the operator of messaging app WeChat has been reported that the company is looking to create a digital currency research group. Tencent released a statement to its employees, stating that the company is currently hiring a new head of the research group.

iFeng reported that the digital currency research group would be focusing on advancing the internet giant’s research on digital payment by utilizing blockchain technology.

It was reported that the new digital currency team would be responsible for research, follow up and the implementation of the latest policies of the relevant government departments, business model innovation, and application.

Tencent has started a blockchain-based research and development team in 2015. In October this year, the internet giant has released the 2019 Tencent Blockchain Whitepaper, demonstrating new ideas in the different industry use cases with the involvement of blockchain.

Liu Feng, the Director of Blockchain Technology Research and Application Research Center of the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics said, “As the dominant player in the domestic social field, Tencent sits on the advantages of two major product ecosystems – QQ and WeChat, and proposes a social-based global blockchain digital currency mobile payment system network.”

Liu also added that there had been many difficulties faced when testing out the technology regarding current regulatory and legislative processes.

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Tencent, Huawei, and Baidu Executives to Join China’s New National Blockchain Committee to Set Industrial Standards

The Chinese central government has put together a national blockchain committee to work on setting industrial standards. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued a notice on April 13 of the “Public Notice on the Formation of a National Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology Standardization Technical Committee.”

The committee would be made up of 71 individuals from different backgrounds, including political, industrial, academic, and research organizations. The committee will be chaired by MIIT deputy minister Chen Zhaoxiong, along with five vice-chairs, all of whom are government staff, including Di Gang, the vice-head of the Chinese central bank digital currency institute.

Other committee members include executives from well-known Chinese institutions, including Baidu, Tencent, Huawei, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, amongst others. The ministry is also asking for public feedback on the committee members until the deadline of May 12, 2020.

China’s take on blockchain

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in October 2019 that its nation should accelerate the development of blockchain technology. He highlighted that the application of blockchain technology has extended to digital finance, the internet of things, supply chain, and digital asset trading, amongst other areas. The president stressed that it is necessary to strengthen fundamental research of blockchain technology to enhance original innovation ability, for the nation to take a leading position in the blockchain industry.

China has also been researching the application of blockchain and artificial intelligence in cross-border financing, as the deputy head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange in China announced that there are plans to use these technologies shortly after Facebook announced its plans for its Libra stablecoin.

Huawei taking on the blockchain road

The Nanshan government of Shenzhen, in the southern Guangdong province in China, has recently announced an agreement with electronics giant Huawei Technologies to establish an information technology center, accelerating the application of technologies including blockchain, artificial intelligence in the district.

With joint efforts between the Nanshan government and Huawei will explore FinTech solutions and development to speed up the application of disruptive technologies. Financial applications, including banks, insurance, securities, and third-party payments, will also be explored based on Huawei’s Kunpeng structure.

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WeBank Blockchain Patents Filings Rank Third Highest Globally for 2019

China’s WeBank is leading the global banking community in banking technology patents jumping ahead of US giants JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America with 632 filed patents in 2019.

The majority of patents filed by WeBank focused on ABCD technologies (AI, Blockchain, Cloud, Computing, Big Data). According to a release on 24 April, WeBank also filed the third most blockchain patents globally making it the only bank in the top 10 for 2019, just behind non-bank giants Alibaba and Tencent.

Growing FinTech in China

As China races towards blockchain dominance, the increasing number of patents filed by WeBank indicates the banking industry giant is serious about growing its fintech capabilities. WeBank is determined to empower developers with open source fintech and create a collaborative local and global ecosystem.

Source: WeBank Blockchain Patents 2019

One of WeBank’s most interesting FinTech patents of 2019 was CN110188112, a unique device and method for tracking the changing records of blockchain smart contracts. According to the technical scheme, the method allows the change-record of a smart contract to be quickly and efficiently tracked and acquired by all parties while maintaining the authenticity of the smart contracts stored information.

China’s National Blockchain

In 2019, WeBank announced the open source fintech strategy that aims to facilitate the collaboration of developers around the world. So far, it has brought out dozens of successful open source projects, such as FATE (Federated AI Technology Enabler), FISCO BCOS (consortium chain platform built together with FISCO open source taskforce team) and open-source big data platform suite WeDataSphere.

Earlier in April, WeBank’s largest shareholder Tencent was invited to join the Chinese central government’s national blockchain committee to work on setting industrial standards.

The “Public Notice on the Formation of a National Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology Standardization Technical Committee.” is made up of 71 individuals from different backgrounds, including political, industrial, academic, and research organizations. The committee will be chaired by MIIT deputy minister Chen Zhaoxiong, along with five vice-chairs, all of whom are government staff, including Di Gang, the vice-head of the Chinese central bank digital currency institute.

Other committee members include executives from well-known Chinese institutions, including Tencent, Baidu, Huawei, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, amongst others. The ministry is also asking for public feedback on the committee members until the deadline of May 12, 2020.

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Chinese Tech Company Tencent Launches Blockchain Accelerator

Tencent, the Chinese multinational conglomerate, announced, on April 29, 2020, the launch of its new blockchain accelerator which is now open to both mature and early-stage blockchain-based startups.

The company specifically mentioned that it is currently looking out for 30 co-builders for the position and has listed down 3 main criteria to apply for the application.

The blockchain-based startup needs to have certain technological advantages or must be in the mature stage.
Must have at least one financing round.
Personal status for CEO, Founder, Co-founder, COO, and CTO

The last date to apply for the application is June 6, 2020. They have named the blockchain accelerator behind their company’s name.

What is it all about?

The ‘Tencent Blockchain Accelerator’ will allow the selected projects to reap special benefits like four mentoring meetings every year, a rich network of industry experts, and the opportunity to learn more about the international blockchain community.

Apart from all these perks, the selected projects will also get access to Tencent’s blockchain-as-a-service platform for free for one whole year. The cost of tuition for this opportunity is RMB 100,000 ($14,150) per person excluding the cost of international visits.

Tencent Blockchain Accelerator will look into interest areas like smart contract security, multi-party governance mechanisms, trusted identity, and consensus algorithms. It will also focus on a number of recruiting areas in blockchain industries that are dealing with data sharing, digital asset transactions, supply chain finance, trusted certificate, manufacturing, agriculture, and public welfare.

Futuristic Outlook of Tencent

Tencent has always been the aggressive one when it came to implementing and leveraging new technologies to make the first-mover advantage in any industry. Blockchain technology is no exception.

As reported by Blockchain.News, WeBank, of which Tencent owns a majority share, is leading the global banking community in banking technology patents jumping ahead of US giants JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America with 632 filed patents in 2019.

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China’s WeBank Makes its First Move to Take its Blockchain Global, Partnering with Singapore's OpenNodes

China’s top digital bank WeBank has announced its partnership with Singaporean government-backed OpenNodes. This partnership will allow China’s FISCO BCOS blockchain platform to be brought to Singaporean academics for innovation and new initiatives. FISCO BCOS was deemed to be China’s version of Hyperledger Fabric when it was launched in 2018.

The Financial Blockchain Shenzhen Consortium (FISCO) is backed by more than 100 Chinese organizations, including Huawei, Tencent, JD Finance, and WeBank, which is partly backed by Tencent. Developed by FISCO, the enterprise blockchain protocol was the first blockchain to be supported by China’s Blockchain Service Network.

WeBank’s executive vice president and Chief Information Officer, Henry Ma said, “We seek to spur the next-generation talents into building viable solutions using blockchain to serve the general public. Providing this open-source technology as a developer arena will also help us strengthen the stack of our technologies in the process while allowing for better products and services for the general public.”

This also became the first move in taking FISCO BCOS international, which also support the Blockchain Services Network’s ambition to go global. The partnership aims to introduce Singapore’s university students to FISCO BCOS. Ma added, “Combining forces is the first stepping stone to expanding the consortium into Southeast Asia, and ensures we are well fed by a constant source of knowledge, technology expertise, and domain experience.”

As previously reported by Blockchain.News, the digital bank is leading the global banking community in banking technology patents climbing ahead of US giants JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America with 632 filed patents in 2019.

China’s international blockchain ambitions

China’s Blockchain Services Network (BSN), ChinaChain has been opened since late April for commercial use after six months of internal testing.

The Blockchain Services Network is built by a consortium of China’s biggest corporations including telecommunications companies and banks, connecting nodes in 128 cities in the country. Companies including China Mobile, China UnionPay, and Huobi China have also taken part in the creation of the BSN. The network also includes 7 areas outside of China including Paris, Sydney, San Paulo, Singapore, Tokyo, Johannesburg, and California. This would facilitate the interested parties to conduct business in China to be able to use the network and to follow the network’s rules.

Along with WeBank’s FISCO BCOS, Hyperledger Fabric, Ethereum, EOS, ChainSQL, and Baidu’s Xuperchain were also part of the plan to be added to the “ecosystem play,” and “internet environment,” as explained by Zhiguang Shan, the Chairman of the BSN’s Development Association. This network of blockchains will be available for those who are interested to take part in it, including small to medium-sized businesses.

OpenNodes: Encouraging engagement in blockchain

Tribe Accelerator announced the launch of its digital media and engagement platform, OpenNodes in August 2019. Founded by 25 founding members and led by Tribe Accelerator, OpenNodes is also supported by the Singapore Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), as well as the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Temasek. Yi Ming Ng, Managing Director of Tribe added, “All the stakeholders in the ecosystem have come together to collectively drive this blockchain ecosystem for more mass adoption to happen.” OpenNodes allows for more engagement and collaboration between the stakeholders in the blockchain ecosystem, allowing for a better reach of the audience, showcasing the use cases in the blockchain ecosystem.

OpenNodes is funded by Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), along with other government stakeholders, as well as IBM, R3, ConsenSys, Ethereum, BMW, PwC, and Singapore stock exchange (SGX). Its aim is to support and educate corporates and connect them with technology solution providers.

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China’s Tencent Will Invest 500 Billion Yuan in Blockchain and New Technology Infrastructure

Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings, the owner of China’s messaging platform WeChat has announced that the company will be investing 500 billion yuan ($70 billion) in the next five years in emerging technologies including blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and cybersecurity.

Tencent is aiming to strengthen the development of FinTech in China, following the push of accelerating the development of blockchain as stated by the country’s President Xi Jinping.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China discussed the standards of its “new infrastructure” for technology which included the call for a structural upgrade of its economy.

Fan Yifei, the Chinese central bank (PBoC)’s deputy governor echoed President Xi Jinping’s call for the acceleration of the country’s blockchain development adoption. The president pointed out that it is necessary to strengthen fundamental research of blockchain technology and enhance innovation, enabling China to take a leading position in the blockchain field.

Key sectors of the investment include blockchain, servers, big data centers, supercomputer centers, internet of things operating systems, 5G networks, and quantum computing, according to Dowson Tong, senior vice president of Tencent.

Tencent executives to join China’s blockchain committee

Committee members include executives from well-known Chinese institutions, including Baidu, Tencent, Huawei, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, amongst others. The ministry is also asking for public feedback on the committee members until the deadline of May 12, 2020.

China to develop a “digital central bank”

China’s central bank, People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is planning to look into building a digital central bank infrastructure to improve the standards of financial services in the country.

A three-year FinTech development plan was set out for the country in August 2019, and 2020 has entered its second year. The development of blockchain, the internet of things (IoT), big data, and other innovative business models will also be expected to drive the digital transformation of the financial industry and promoting financial technology in the country.

China has also taken an ambitious step to “maintain its leading position in digital currency technology,” as it remains the central bank’s current top focus. According to Zhongtai Securities, the People’s Bank of China expects to be in the world’s leading position in digital currency development, as it continues to strive for efficient research and development, as well as technical testing of digital assets.

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China's Tencent Forms Alliance to Boost Blockchain Development in the Country

China remains a pacesetter in the technological landscape. The Chinese government as well as Chinese companies are all in tandem with the fight to push for a whole new world of technological dominance.

This developmental posture is also true of Tencent, one of China’s technologically focused firms that announced it has formed an industrial alliance that will help promote the development of blockchain technology. The alliance is set to recruit 100 members before the end of the year to create room for wider representation.

Tencent’s role in the tech space

Tencent Holdings Ltd is a Chinese multinational company founded in 1998. Since the company’s inception, it has extensively applied technology and artificial intelligence in churning out products ranging from game systems to the social messaging app, WeChat.

The company has carved out a niche for itself in the tech world and is now a forerunner in the drive for an all-encompassing involvement in tech development. Known for its investment in emerging technologies, Tencent pledged 500 billion yuan ($70 Billion) to the development of blockchain technology back in April 2020. This is in consonance with the firm’s efforts to accelerate the development of blockchain technology.

Expectations of the new alliance

The new alliance formed as reported consists of three committees spanning tech thought leaders across industries. These committees include the standard committee, which will liaise with government agencies and industry stakeholders in developing a standardization framework for blockchain technology.

The technical committee tasked with industry think tank experts, corporate technology executives, universities and other resources to discuss the planning and construction of blockchain technology platforms.

The last group dubbed “The Business Ecology Committee” will connect industry media, investment institutions, and other key industries such as finance, government affairs, people’s livelihood, and entertainment.

These groups within this alliance are expected to chart a course for the development of blockchain technology applicable in industrial settings.

A mimic of the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance?

The Tencent’s model of blockchain alliance bears similarities to the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance launched in April 2020. As blockchain enthusiasts, the need to see blockchain technology thrives supersede the classification by the relevance of any alliance formed. All hands must be on deck to ensure that blockchain technology and its derivatives have the dominance they seek.

Alibaba’s Plan to Digitize the Services Industry to Rival Tencent Involves Blockchain

Alibaba subsidiary Ant Group CEO Simon Hu is accelerating Alipay’s progression into an online mall for commerce, food, travel services to rival Tencent Holdings Ltd.

Ant Group Chief Executive Simon Hu has been in discussions regarding digital payment and cloud offerings with KFC and Marriott International, aiming to diversify its focus from traditional banks and fund managers. The change in focus has also marked its transformation from its registered name from Ant Financial Services Group to Ant Group Co., at the end of May. Alibaba Group owns a 33 percent stake in Ant Group.

Hu has been looking to digitize the services industry, as he mentioned in an interview when he took on the CEO role. He said, “We’ve been pursuing the strategy to evolve Ant into a tech company, with an open-platform strategy for many years.”

CEO Simon Hu wants the public to think of Alipay, owned by Ant Group as the go-to app for a wide range of needs, from the retail market to wealth management, and for e-commerce purposes, while moving away from the idea as a niche provider of financial services.

Hu is also looking to incorporate and promote emerging technologies including artificial intelligence and blockchain to the businesses that wish to use the platform. In five years, the CEO is aiming for 80 percent of Ant Group’s revenue to come from local merchants and finance firms, up from around 50 percent at the end of 2019. He said:

“We want to share the technology and resources we’ve developed as an online financial platform with more companies in finance, local services, public services, and other countries. The shift doesn’t hinder any initial public offering plans and the company is still open to listing.”

Late to mini programs

Since three years ago, Tencent has already been dominating the mini programs space, which Alipay has been “late to.”

Owned by Tencent, social messaging platform WeChat has over 400 million users a day on the platform renting bicycles, ordering food, and renting apartments through the app, which grew Tencent’s share of mobile payments and ad revenue.

In an attempt to rival Tencent, Alipay’s Hu has been aiming to over natural advantages, such as the personalization of its interface, allowing users to pin frequently used services. Alipay also plans to use algorithms to further customize its landing page for its current 600 million monthly users, with 2 million mini programs after two years.

Alibaba and blockchain technology

Alibaba has integrated a full-link traceability blockchain system into its import e-commerce platform, Kaola. The Chinese e-commerce giant has previously acquired NetEase’s Kaola cross-border e-commerce platform in September 2019 for $2 billion.

Alibaba stated that with the addition of blockchain technology, the e-commerce giant hopes to address the industry’s traditional pain points including tracking, lost goods, and logistics information.

China to Test its CBDC on Tencent-Backed Platform and Other Domestic Firms to Break Dependence on the US

China’s central bank has taken another major step forward toward the digital yuan’s mass adoption with its testing on food delivery giant Meituan Dianping. Backed by Tencent, Meituan has been having discussions with the People’s Bank of China’s (PBoC) central bank digital currency (CBDC), also known as digital currency electronic payment (DCEP) research wing.

According to Bloomberg, the details of the partnership are yet to be finalized. Another Tencent-backed company, Bilibili — a site that streams videos, is also in discussions with the central bank on the digital yuan trials.

Both Meituan Dianping and Bilibili are currently using payment systems, including Alipay and WeChat pay, backed by Alibaba Group and Tencent. The world’s second-largest economy has a $27 trillion payments industry, and with the testing of the DCEP — could potentially shift China’s dependence on the US.

As reported by Blockchain.News, earlier this month, China’s Central Bank Digital Currency Research Institute and Chinese transportation platform Didi Chuxing have reached an agreement to explore and develop the use of digital yuan in the transportation industry.

Didi Chuxing announced that the company would be working with the Chinese Digital Currency Research Institute to implement guidelines proposed by the central party government to improve financial services in the economy and integrate the digital economy into the current economy.

China’s digital yuan, as explained by the Director-General of the Institute of Digital Currency at the central bank, is a two-tiered system that will soon be replacing M0, Chinese yuan fiat in circulation.

The DCEP has already been in experimentation in the real world, with the Suzhou municipal government employees receiving 50 percent of their transportation subsidies in May 2020 in DCEP.

The PBoC previously partnered with seven state-owned institutions to roll out the pilot test of the DCEP. The pilot program aimed to concentrate first on industries including transportation, education, commerce, and healthcare. The pilot program in Shenzhen was aimed to be carried out in two phases, including a small-scale testing period, before the DCEP would be widely promoted in the city this year.

Xiao Gang, the former chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission stressed the importance of developing the digital economy in the country. Speaking at the 19th Pushan Lectures of China Finance 40 Forum, Xiao emphasized the urgency for a digital reform, saying that the boundaries of some products and services in the digital capital market are becoming blurred, and the current laws and regulations around digital currencies would not suffice.

Xiao suggested that more research into decentralization and information needs to be done and that the country would need to embrace new technologies and build business models to promote data connectivity.