Chinese City, Shenzhen announce $79 Million Fund for Blockchain Applications

The Chinese city of Shenzhen has just announced a 500 million Yuan (about $79 million USD) blockchain venture capital fund for supporting indigenous blockchain related applications.

Sohu a Chinese-based news outlet reported the development during the Blockchain Expo held in Shenzhen city on April 22. According to Sohu, the capital fund will be managed by Donghai and Star capital both a subsidiary of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC).

More than one hundred seed projects would receive investment from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Shenzhen Institute of Innovation and Development. Li Haitao would be in charge of funds management while the Former Secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology, Liu Zhongpu, member of the Shenzhen Municipal Decision Advisory Committee, and Long Xiaobo, chairman of the board of directors of Zhongfu Resources would act as fund’s management advisors.

This Shenzhen blockchain capital fund is the latest in a line of financial commitments by various Chinese cities towards supporting blockchain innovative technologies. Just last month, The Chinese government provided funding worth $1 billion for sponsoring blockchain technology startups. The new fund was called “Xiong’An Global Blockchain Innovation Fund and was announced during the commissioning of a new Blockchain themed park in Hangzhou province.

The Chinese government contributed 30% of the funds for investment purpose while the Yuhang District Government, the Future Science and Technology City Management Committee, and Hangzhou Haoyu Investment Management Co., Ltd provided the rest totaling of 10 billion Yuan.

With all this various blockchain funding being provided by the Chinese cities, the country hopes to retain its lead in blockchain innovative designs globally. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) reveals that China has the most patent filings in 2017. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) topped the list of the most patent filings while Alibaba another Chinese company came second, with 43 patent filings in the list which saw China produce more than half of the entire applications.