China and Australia deepen blockchain links

A group of Australian blockchain start-ups, including Beam and AgriDigital, are in Shanghai this week, on a trade mission organised by Austrade and the Australian Digital Commerce Association.

Over the weekend, the entrepreneurs completed a boot camp run by members of the embassy, including a session on how to protect their intellectual property. On Monday, they visited several of China’s largest fintech companies, including $US150 billion-valued ($211 billion) Ant Financial’s Shanghai headquarters in the city’s Pudong district.

China’s fintech market towers over all others. Ant operates the world’s largest online and mobile payments platform – with 520 million users. It has also been investing in blockchain, devoting part of its blockbuster $US14 billion Series C funding round earlier this year to the new technology.

An example is the blockchain-based cross-border settlement service it launched in June to manage fund transfers between Hong Kong and the Philippines.

The delegation will then hit the Wangxiang 4th Global Blockchain Summit, which is being held at W Shanghai The Bund on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mind-blowing experience

According to a delegate who attended the event last year, it will be a mind-blowing experience for the start-ups, revealing China’s ambition to be a central player as the new “internet of value” develops.

The Chinese government has cracked down on bitcoin and initial coin offerings (ICOs) but this does not mean it wants to stifle investment in the technology underlying them.

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Source: China and Australia deepen blockchain links | afr.com