The coronavirus has not swayed the interest of entrepreneurs in setting up their own blockchain businesses
LongHash, a blockchain and crypto data platform, revealed in a tweet that the blockchain sector in China has witnessed unprecedented growth despite the effects of coronavirus — with over 10,000 blockchain companies set up between January and July 2020.
#COVID19 hasn’t stopped China’s blockchain boom. 10,000+ new blockchain companies have been established in the first 7 months of 2020. Number of new companies on track to surpass those established in 2019. Chart 👇 pic.twitter.com/yP6XSeU8bl
— LongHash Data (@longhashdata) August 8, 2020
The graph that the blockchain platform posted also indicates that the present number of blockchain companies in the country is on its way to surpassing 2017’s total figure. The analytics platform claimed that the statistics this year also have the potential to surpass 2018’s total of 18,500 new blockchain companies, which would set a new all-time high.
The figures indicate that there are over 84,410 registered companies, 29,340 of which are actively in operation. Throughout the country, the Guangdong Province in Southeast China has the highest number of blockchain startups, with the Yunnan Province in the southwest coming in second.
Most of the blockchain companies registered only used a small amount of capital. The maximum registered capital is 5,000 yuan (around $717 USD). Only a small number of companies registered with more than 50,000 yuan ($7,175).
Beyond the private sector, the Chinese Government has also been working actively to develop blockchain technology in an attempt to make government services more efficient. According to the local news, the blockchain application already features 140 government service applications that are divided into three main categories: data sharing and exchange, business collaborative processing, and electronic certificate and data storage.
The country’s central bank is also working on testing the digital yuan across several cities and high profile companies. It also secured $4.7 million in funding for the creation of a blockchain trade platform for the next three years.
The deputy of the National People’s Congress, Jieqing Tan, highlighted the importance of having a clear national blockchain industry development plan within the country.
“From the bottom technology standard, middle industry application development to the top-level system design, the national blockchain technology, industry and supervision three-dimensional strategic planning system should be well coordinated,” Tan stated.
While China’s blockchain industry is certainly developing at a fast pace, there are concerns that other sectors may have difficulty keeping up with its growth. College students in blockchain courses are slated for graduation in the year 2024, which has raised speculations that the local supply of young professionals may not be able to keep up with the rise in demand for talent.