Governing the Digital Economy: An Exploration of Blockchains with Chinese Characteristics

Abstract

In 2019 President Xi Jinping called for the prioritisation of blockchain technology as part of China’s next phase of development. In China, blockchain technologies have been experimentally deployed in various areas including court records, securities exchanges, finance, and food supply chains. The emergence of blockchain as a governmental technology raises numerous questions, including: (i) what are the conditions of emergence and existence of China’s interest in blockchain technology? (ii) what are the features of “blockchains with Chinese characteristics”? (iii) what implications are there for the post-COVID-19 pandemic world, in which technological issues are likely to be pivotal points of contention? This article seeks to examine these questions and frame a research programme that can shed light on how blockchains may impact the evolution and shape of China’s social and economic structure and the interaction of China with the rest of the world, including the prospect of “decoupling” and “deglobalisation.” Examples of blockchain innovation are drawn from food and pharmaceutical supply chains, the Healthy China 2030 policy, the digital RMB/Yuan and the Belt and Road Initiative with attention to the emerging legal and institutional frames that support the application of blockchain technologies.