Japanese financial services giant SBI Group has announced that its CEO Yoshitaka Kitao has been appointed as the strategic investment senior advisor of "Blockchain Big Data Industry Investment Specialty Committee” of the China Investment Association.

According to the press release dated June 12 (via online translation):

“It will be the first time for a private company manager to become a strategic investment senior adviser at the 17 committees that make up the China Investment Association.”

Established in March 2019, the Blockchain Big Data Industry Investment Specialty Committee is one of the 17 committees that make up the China Investment Association. It aims to lead and support investment activities in the blockchain and big data industry.

“Recognizing the recent appointment as a strategic investment senior adviser as an opportunity, we will further promote block chain and digital asset utilization at financial institutions in Japan and Asia, and strive to develop financial services with high customer benefit,” it added.

SBI Group is actively involved in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space. It has formed a joint venture with blockchain startup Ripple, which completed its registration with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau as a licensed agent for handling electronic payments last September.

In January, SBI Holdings announced that it was expanding its partnership with R3 to establish a joint venture company, SBI R3 Japan Co., Ltd. The new company aims to promote R3’s Corda blockchain platform.

Previous reports have also suggested that SBI Group was trialing a crypto token, dubbed “S coin,” for retail payments and settlement over smartphones.