Beijing Says Blockchain Technology Expedites Trade Financing During Coronavirus Containment

A senior official from China’s forex authority has highlighted the use of a blockchain-driven platform to facilitate trade financing by small businesses during efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

At a press conference held over the weekend Xuan Changneng (宣昌能), deputy-head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), said that China was using technology to support cross-border trade financing and forex settlement operations for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME).

Xuan pointed in particular to efforts to strengthen the role of SAFE’s cross-border finance blockchain services platform, trial work for which commenced in March of last year.

According to Xuan as of 3 February 2020 the trial scope had expanded to 22 provinces, regions and municipalities, with over 170 legal person banks actively participating.

The platform has been used to complete a total of USD$15.9 billion yuan in funding, providing services to nearly 2500 enterprise, of which around 75% were MSME’s.

Since the Spring Festival the platform has completed a total of 171 transactions worth over USD$200 million for a total of 87 enterprises.

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