China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (IT) has conducted a study on Blockchain technologies in order to promote the “formation of a complete Blockchain standard system as soon as possible,” according to a press release published yesterday, March 12.

The Information and Software Services Division of the Ministry of Industry and IT, along with the China Electronics Standardization Institute, will set up a committee to promote national Blockchain and distributed ledger technology.

The press release notes that other international organizations, like the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) have already begun standardizing Blockchain technology. China has made “positive progress” in this process through its status as a participating country in the ISO’s Blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) committee, TC 307.

Although China has banned Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) and both domestic and foreign crypto exchanges, its legislation against cryptocurrencies has not prevented the country from supporting Blockchain, the technology behind crypto.

One of China’s top retailers, JD.com launched a Blockchain incubation startup in late February of this year. The same retailer also began using Blockchain to track the supply chain of its meat sales in early March.