The People’s Bank of China has received around $7.4 million for its blockchain trade platform from the Chinese government.
The funds will be used by the People’s Bank of China- the Chinese apex bank, for blockchain-based trade finance research and development projects.
The Chinese government will disperse the funds in the next three years.
The blockchain-based trade finance platform, which was launched by the People’s Bank of China in September 2018, has reportedly processed $12.4 billion worth of transactions for 38 banks and around 1,900 firms that have signed up to use the platform. Some of the biggest names using the platform are Bank of China, Ping An, and Standard Chartered.
The trade finance platform has helped reduce transaction time from 10 days to nearly 20 minutes. It has also helped make the process 6 percent cheaper.
The investment is also a part of the government’s measures to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan. According to local media, around 20 blockchain applications were launched since the epidemic to help China contain the virus.
The central bank aims to make the process of sharing information safe, more secure and add more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the network. Reportedly, the platform has significantly improved the efficiency of SME’s loan approvals.
The platform is administered by the central bank’s Digital Currency Research Lab, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, leading Chinese universities and major local banks.
Last year, the central bank entered into an agreement with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to collaborate on the development of a trade finance platform proof-of-concept. The new platform will integrate the Bank of China’s Trade Finance Platform and Hong Kong’s eTradeConnect.