The Chinese blockchain economy has received a significant boost as it was announced that the city of Nanjing is launching a 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) investment fund to nurture public blockchain projects in the country.

The city, capital of the eastern Jiangsu province, has partnered with the Zhongguancun Blockchain Industry Alliance, a Beijing-based initiative comprising blockchain companies and government research institutes, to launch the project – announced China’s inaugural Industrial Public Chain Summit (IPCS).

The aim of the new venture is to foster new “cross-border platforms, content, healthcare, energy, intellectual property, and environmental protection” according to the local ZDnet, and Nanjing will also help blockchain companies relocate to the city.

With the first beneficiaries of the new fund including the UDAP Foundation – a “blockchain middleware project” to help users build a decentralised asset platform – Yuandao, chairman of Zhongguancun Blockchain Industry Alliance, explained that:

industries adopting blockchain technology will bring about countless more chains, which in turn will bring more technological breakthroughs.

Blockchain in China

With the launch attended by top government officials, including deputy secretary of the Communist Part of China – this latest initiative represents part of the country’s increasingly warm attitude to blockchain technology.

Last month China state TV lavished praise on the tech – describing it as “the second phase of the internet” while President Xi Jinping in May singled out blockchain as part of the country’s vision for a new information revolution.

With the official view on crypto-assets remaining for now unfriendly, the crypto-community will be keeping a close eye on whether these positive developments in the blockchain space trigger any change in the country’s stance.