The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has secured $4.7 million in funding from China’s central government for its blockchain trade finance platform. The funding will be administered over three years and has been designated for research and development projects.

The blockchain platform was initially revealed by the PBoC in Shenzhen during September 2018. The platform is intended to facilitate transfers and create an untamperable ledger for secure information sharing between businesses and government departments.

Blockchain drives efficiency savings for Chinese corporate financing

By mid-January, it was estimated that the platform had processed $12.4 billion worth of transactions for the 38 banks and nearly 1,900 firms that have signed up to use the platform.

Chinese media outlet Xinhua claims that the platform has shortened the time taken to process trade financing from roughly 10 days to just 20 minutes. The costs incurred through corporate financing executed using that platform has also reportedly decreased by approximately 6%.

The platform is administered by the PBoC’s Digital Currency Research Lab, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, leading Chinese universities and major local banks.

Blockchain solutions proliferate in China

Blockchain technology has been deployed for an increasing number of applications across Chinese society in recent months.

On March 2, Beijing launched a blockchain-based electronic invoicing system for parking. Beijing’s taxation authority indicated it will progressively roll-out blockchain invoicing across all car parks in the city to promote paperless invoicing, adding that it plans to implement blockchain invoicing across more sectors in the future.

During the first half of February, Xinhua estimated that at least 20 blockchain applications were launched to assist in the Chinese government’s efforts to contain the coronavirus — including managing and tracking health records, medical supplies, and relief efforts.