President Xi's Blockchain Strategy Unfolds As China Exim Bank Executes Cross-border Payment Using New Tech

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The Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank) has completed its first exchange payment using a blockchain platform, marking another milestone in the country’s efforts to “seize the opportunity” of the emerging technology.

In October of 2019, President Xi Jinping announced that China would embrace blockchain across all industries in a mission to become the world leader in its deployment. Calling the technology “an important breakthrough,” Xi has mandated the country’s business leaders to use it to enhance processes related to finance, the improvement of mass transit and the alleviation of poverty.

In the latest implementation, the Xiamen branch of China Exim Bank used the state-owned cross-border financial blockchain platform to facilitate a foreign exchange payment to Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry Co., reports Sina Finance, making it the first policy bank in the country to handle such a transaction.

Traditionally, businesses must file a request with the tax department and present a filing form to the bank window in order to complete foreign exchange payments. The new blockchain model saves enterprises the time it takes to make multiple round trips, reducing audits and transaction costs while streamlining the procedure.

China Exim Bank is one of three institutional banks in the country chartered to implement state policies. It engages in foreign trade in order to promote the export of Chinese products and services.