The Chinese government has announced that it will start to use the blockchain to collect taxes and issue electronic invoices.

In 2016, the government revealed that it had listed the distributed ledger in its Thirteenth Five-Year National Informatization Plan.

Since then the country has been working at implementing the blockchain into daily life, reports Futurism, with reports suggesting that China is leading the way with the advancements of the technology.

One of the country’s latest initiatives has seen China’s online-only insurer ZhongAn working on a blockchain platform to track the chicken supply in the country. China has also seen its central bank complete a digital currency trial on the blockchain with its own cryptocurrency. Whereas Australia Post has joined with Alibaba to fight the problem of counterfeit food in China.

With the Chinese economy the world’s largest with a 2016 GDP of over RMB 70 trillion or around US$10.4 trillion, this could future catapult the country forward given the importance China is attaching to it.

According to the Chinese government, they have ‘actively’ been exploring the application of the distributed ledger in the ‘fiscal and taxation business.’

In an agreement with the Shenzhen Zhanhe Technology Investment Co., the government will undertake joint research and development based on the government chain of fiscal and taxation applications.

It said:

[This] is the first international financial and taxation business actually landed in the block chain project, [which] will further consolidate the network in China and the international industry in the leading edge.

This latest initiative in China indicates how the technology can further be utilized in day-to-day applications. Furthermore, due to its transparency and security, the blockchain makes a viable and attractive option when used for taxation purposes.

As China continues to explore the technology there will be more use cases involving it for a broader array of applications. With immutability, security and transparency important components in the digital arena, China is understanding the importance that the blockchain can have and appears keen to uncover more of its potential.

Featured image from Shutterstock.