A county in China’s northern Sichuan province has signed a strategic cooperation contract to establish a new blockchain company in an effort to develop the forestry industry, local news outlet China Net reported August 24.

The Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County of Sichuan Province and Beijing Sinfotek Group have jointly established a new company, Hangzhou Yi Shu Blockchain Technology Co., Ltd for “forestry economic development and industrial poverty alleviation.” The parties signed the cooperation contract in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on August 19, China Net reports.

The newly established company is reportedly one of the 19 blockchain companies to have passed the first batch of 700 project declarations in the Hangzhou Blockchain Industrial Park. The company aims to apply blockchain technology to farming and agriculture industries. The report states:

“[The company’s strategy] will be closely integrated with the national development strategy, and [will] fully promote the application of blockchain technology to realize the parallel development of enterprise value and forestry industry.”

Earlier this month the Communist Party of China (CPC) had released a book on blockchain technology and its possible applications, as Cointelegraph reported August 13.

Last week, one of the world's largest insurance company groups, China’s Ping An Insurance, released a "White Paper on Smart Cities," advocating for blockchain technology development and “promoting the development of ‘smart city.’”