Industrialization and marketization, Shanghai takes the lead in laying out the blockchain market 2023-06-20 Source： Jiefang Daily font size： large, medium and small.

Reporter Cha Rui

The "6 18" shopping festival has just come to an end, and express delivery is about to reach its peak. In Whale Warehouse-1 Logistics Warehouse, 42 containers "Spider-Man" shuttled through the 9-meter-high shelf gap. AI was their brains, and their task was to "get the boxes". Once the order is received, these "Spidermen" will accurately locate the box where the goods are stored in milliseconds, and quickly transfer it to the goods picking platform. The whole process takes only two minutes.

Different from previous years, these "Spidermen" have achieved "winding" for the first time in the industry, and all operational data are encrypted and circulated on the blockchain network, laying the foundation for the large-scale development and credible cooperation of the warehousing and logistics industry.

Seize the opportunity of the digital transformation of the real economy, while opening up its own "isolated island" of technology, domestic blockchain has found an industrialization road in the fields of finance, logistics and carbon reduction.

Break the "island"

Recently, the national standard "Blockchain and Distributed Accounting Technology Reference Architecture" was officially released and will be implemented on December 1 this year. This is also the first national standard in the blockchain technology field approved for release in China. According to the national standard, blockchain is a new database software integrating distributed network, encryption technology, smart contract and other technologies. At present, this national standard has been applied in hundreds of typical blockchain enterprises.

In the early days of the industry, different blockchain systems have different technical routes in communication protocols and identity management, and most of them are independent of each other, forming numerous "islands", which are not conducive to interconnection objectively and affect the efficient cooperation among institutions. At present, the demand for cross-chain interoperability is becoming more and more urgent. The key of blockchain from "local area network" to "Internet" lies in the need for "language communication" between different blockchain systems. After cross-chain, each chain becomes an interconnected and open ecosystem from an "island". Cross-chain technology can realize safe and credible information interaction between different blockchain systems, realize data exchange and value flow, and open up the boundary of "language", which is the technical basis of blockchain ecological prosperity.

"The introduction of national standards is only the first step. With national standards, enterprises can cross the chain more effectively." Li Ming, Chairman of the Standardization Committee of Blockchain and Distributed Accounting of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Computer Association, said that the cross-chain standard agreed on a unified communication protocol, just like letting people who used different dialects start speaking Mandarin in the past, which will greatly reduce the cost of interoperability.

"From now on, there have been three major trends in the development of domestic blockchain: platformization, componentization and integration." Li Ming told reporters that at present, all localities have their own blockchain services, such as Chang ‘an Chain, Shuxin Chain and Haihe Chain. These blockchains have formed platforms, and related enterprises can develop applications on existing platforms without building the underlying system, reducing development costs. At the same time, the key technologies of blockchain can be packaged separately, such as smart contracts and digital signatures, which can form independent products. With the further subdivision of blockchain industry, independently packaged components can improve system flexibility.

He also said that like a new generation of information technology such as artificial intelligence, blockchain is also a data-oriented technology, and integration with other technologies is an inevitable trend. For example, privacy computing and the Internet of Things are deeply related to blockchain. In addition, the demand for data interaction between different blockchain systems such as energy chain, financial chain and copyright chain requires not only cross-chain capability, but also the integration and coexistence of distributed and traditional centralized systems of blockchain.

Tamp the base

While the blockchain is constantly iterating, the application scenarios are also expanding. The new national standard recognizes blockchain as an important part of the new generation of information technology and an important technical support for the development of digital economy.

The intelligent three-dimensional storage system of the whale warehouse "Spider Man" is one of the examples of the blockchain empowerment industry. Li Linzi, the founder of Whale Warehouse, introduced that there are more than 2.5 million items of more than 40 brands stored in the 6,000-square-meter warehouse, the storage capacity is six times that of the traditional warehouse, the space utilization rate of the warehouse has increased from 10% to 85%, and the efficiency has also increased by three times. For better and more efficient cooperation, Whale Warehouse adopts blockchain and Internet of Things technology, and realizes the encryption of the operation information, order and fund transaction information of the picking system, so that many parties can look at a trusted account book together. Because these data are authentic and rich, Whale Warehouse can lease warehouses and equipment from industrial capital at lower cost to realize asset-light strategy.

In the capital market, the involvement of blockchain can also reduce credit risk and provide financing guarantee for innovative enterprises. Huidian Yunlian, an energy service provider, has participated in the construction of several energy storage power station projects at home and abroad. However, the pain points faced by the development of the global energy storage industry, such as security risk, quality assurance cycle risk, performance uncertainty and income uncertainty, have led to large risk exposure and financing difficulties between the demand of power station owners and the service system of equipment suppliers. To this end, Huidian Yunlian cooperated with Ant Chain to establish a full-cycle data, algorithm and digital technology service system based on materials, components, systems, scenarios and residual values, so that the data of energy storage projects can be trusted, the risks can be quantified, and the value can be evaluated. The energy storage system and the data sources such as asset evaluation, asset management and asset operation in the whole life cycle of the project are "wound up", which finally attracted Yicun Capital to provide financial solutions and financial support.

Blockchain has long been practiced in preventing people’s livelihood such as telecommunication network fraud. Ant Chain, the first anti-fraud alliance chain based on blockchain technology in China, solved the problem of risk information sharing through the cooperation of data on the chain with public security, people’s bank of China and operators, handled more than 2.4 million pieces of early warning data in one year, protected the victims’ fund accounts 1380 times, intercepted 13.4 million yuan of cheated funds, and safely shared 10 million pieces of black and gray data. This practice has also been included in the "Typical Application Case of Blockchain in 2022" of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Shanghai opportunity

According to IDC, a well-known research organization, it is estimated that the global blockchain market will reach US$ 18.95 billion in 2024, and the market size of China is expected to exceed US$ 2.5 billion, and the market size is expected to remain the second in the world. Faced with this billion-dollar market, Shanghai has already taken the lead in layout. According to the Report on Comprehensive Index of Urban Blockchain in China in 2021, Shanghai’s comprehensive index of blockchain ranks second in China, and there are nearly 1,400 blockchain enterprises with input and output in China, with Shanghai accounting for about a quarter. Among the units involved in drafting the national standards for blockchain, there are also Shanghai figures such as Ant Blockchain, Chain Intelligent Technology, Fudan University and Shanghai Computer Software Technology Development Center.

At present, speculation in virtual currencies such as Bitcoin is explicitly prohibited in China, but transactions such as NFT digital collections are already in the exploration stage. As early as July last year, Shanghai explicitly supported the exploration of NFT trading platform construction, and studied and promoted the digitalization of NFT and other assets, the global circulation of digital IP, and the protection of digital rights in Shanghai.

At the level of blockchain and digital assets, Shanghai has clearly defined the direction of industrialization and marketization. The "Three-year Action Plan for Promoting High-quality Development of Manufacturing Industry in Shanghai (2023-2025)" points out that in the implementation of the action plan of "four new tracks" and "five future industries", it is necessary to develop new digital economies such as blockchain and Web3.0, and promote major applications of the Meta-universe. In August last year, Shanghai Data Exchange set up the first digital asset section in China, and this year, it linked major domestic blockchain enterprises to strive to achieve cross-chain interconnection of blockchain. According to reports, in order to realize the interconnection of assets on the chain, the Shanghai Data Exchange has formed a "three-step" plan, which will build a credible hub for blockchain interconnection, formulate relevant standards for digital cultural and creative blockchain applications, and activate multi-scenario applications of cultural and creative resources.

At the end of last year, "Shanghai Carbon Bank", a carbon inclusive platform settled in digital RMB, was launched. Shanghai residents can take the subway or ride a bike to calculate carbon emission reduction according to their mileage, and users’ daily low-carbon behavior income can be converted into digital RMB in real time. In order to make carbon assets visible, available and measurable, blockchain deposit certificate and smart contract are adopted, and the data of carbon assets can be realized by code without human intervention.

"Shanghai’s blockchain application scenarios are particularly rich, and the financial industry, shipping industry and logistics industry are highly developed. Most of the blockchain businesses can find landing scenarios in Shanghai." Li Ming said that Shanghai’s policy support for blockchain is very strong, and its talent advantage is second to none in China. "Blockchain requires compound technical talents, integrating cryptography, programming languages, computer networks and other majors, and usually requires talents with higher professional skills. Shanghai is just a gathering place for relevant talents." He also believes that Shanghai has hatched many blockchain companies, and "killer" applications may appear in the future in commercial operations.