PingAn’s fintech subsidiary OneConnect has entered an agreement with Hong Kong-listed China Merchant Port Holdings Company to apply blockchain technology to the creation of smart ports in the Greater Bay Area.
On 31 March OneConnect and China Merchant Port executed an agreement for the “Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau Greater Bay Area Port Logistics and Trade Convenience Blockchain Platform Project” in Shenzhen.
Under the agreement both parties will “use blockchain as the base-level technology to jointly drive smart port development, help ports and upstream and downstream enterprises to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and raise the overall efficiency and commercial environment of the Greater Bay Area’s trading and customs.”
OneConnect chair and CEO Ye Wangchun (叶望春) said that the company would work with China Merchants Port to create the Greater Bay Area’s first blockchain network platform to cover the whole trading process, including port, customs, logistics and enterprises.
According to Ye blockchain technology will firstly enable China Merchant Port to create a smart port logistics platform that connects customs, ports, carriers, goods owners, goods agents and financial institutions.
It will also enable the platform to concentrate and share “information flows, goods flows and funds flows,” achieving improvements to efficiency, risk control and cost control.
In future the platform will also gradually implement “targeted regulation, logistics concentration, smart conversion of operations, visualisation of procedures, inclusiveness of finance.”
China Merchant Port is a conglomerate involved with businesses including port operations, general and bulk cargo transportation, container and shipping business and air cargo.
State-owned China Merchants Group holds a 55.4% equity stake in China Merchant Port.
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