China sets 2030 target for its national blockchain network

China aims to largely complete a national blockchain network by 2030, according to a five-year digital development plan published on Friday, Oct. 23, Cointelegraph reported. The document turns a project already named in earlier national policy into a plan with an explicit deadline.

What the plan says

The 15th Five-Year Plan for National Informatization was issued by the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, a senior Communist Party body that coordinates digital policy. On blockchain it calls for:

• A national blockchain network to be largely built out by 2030.
• Deeper use in trade and finance in the Yangtze River Delta, the economic region around Shanghai.
• Large-scale deployment in manufacturing and agriculture in the Chengdu–Chongqing region in the south-west.
• Stronger technical standards and wider use of blockchain in data circulation and trading.

How we got here

Blockchain yes, crypto no

The plan fits a long-standing split in Beijing's approach. Mainland China bans cryptocurrency-related business, including trading and mining, while promoting blockchain as a strategic technology under state control. In practice that means permissioned ledgers for supply chains, trade documents and data sharing, not open networks like Bitcoin or Ethereum. The state's own digital money effort, the e-CNY, is a central bank digital currency rather than a cryptocurrency; our explainer on what a CBDC is sets out the difference.

The crypto stance remains firm: earlier this month a Solana ad on Shanghai's Bund came down within about 10 minutes, according to Changpeng Zhao. For readers outside China, the plan is mainly a signal about where state-backed blockchain infrastructure is heading, not a change in access to crypto markets. For the basics of how public blockchains differ, see what is bitcoin.