China's Party and Cabinet Call for National Blockchain Network in 19-Measure Economic Plan

China's top leadership wants the state to build a national blockchain network. It is not a crypto market but a piece of government infrastructure.

The Communist Party Central Committee and the State Council issued the directive on Oct. 9, titled "Opinions on Developing New Quality Productive Forces." Xinhua published it the same day. It runs to 19 measures.

What the document says

The blockchain network appears in a section on connecting the real economy with the digital economy. It sits next to a nationwide integrated computing power network, manufacturing upgrades and national data infrastructure.

The text also backs smart manufacturing, industrial internet projects and the "East Data, West Computing" program, which routes data and processing from eastern regions to data centers in the west.

Authorities are told to write clearer rules on data ownership, trading, rights allocation and the protection of participants' interests. The document calls for pilot projects that treat data as an economic resource and for an open, shared and secure data market. It also calls for exploring mechanisms for efficient cross-border data movement.

Beyond blockchain, the plan names quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen energy, nuclear fusion, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence and sixth-generation mobile communications as future industries. Robotics, biomedicine, new energy and aerospace are on the list too.

Money and incentives

The directive calls for more investment in core technologies and basic research. It wants stronger corporate participation in national innovation projects, tax incentives for R&D and better financing for technology companies.

It asks for mechanisms to increase investment in future industries and share the risk. Authorities are told to use existing fiscal policy and encourage sustained private capital.

Other measures cover green and low-carbon industry, renewable energy, carbon trading, intellectual property protection and reform of education and vocational training. The document also encourages international research partnerships and foreign investment.

One line cuts against the spending push. Local authorities are directed to avoid blind investment, industrial bubbles and excessive competition. The plan also warns officials against abandoning the real economy for the virtual one.

Crypto stays banned

The document does not mention Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. Chinese authorities classified crypto trading and related business as illegal financial activity in September 2021. In February, the People's Bank of China and seven other agencies restated the ban. Earlier this year, regulators extended the framework to yuan-pegged stablecoins and real-world asset tokenization.

China already runs a state-backed platform, the Blockchain-based Service Network, launched in April 2020. According to Stanford's DigiChina project, it does not allow independent cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The new document does not say whether the national network will be built on that platform.

The pattern fits earlier policy. On April 6, the State Administration of Taxation and the National Financial Regulatory Administration encouraged blockchain-based tax data sharing among banks, tax authorities and businesses to help lenders assess small-business borrowers, with financing directed toward compliant, tax-paying enterprises. In August, the PBOC's five-year plan pledged to steadily develop the digital yuan. And on Aug. 6, Guangdong's Department of Commerce released a draft that included cross-border digital yuan trials in its free trade zone plan for 2026–2030.

Market reaction

Crypto markets shrugged. As of Oct. 10, CoinMarketCap data showed Bitcoin at $82,783, up 0.1% on the day, Ether at $2,497 and XRP at $1.40. The Fear and Greed Index read 56, "Neutral." A plan with no tradable asset gives traders little to price.

Some in the industry keep tying China to the next rally. Joseph Chee, chief executive of Nasdaq-listed Solana Company, told CNBC three days before the directive that "I think the crypto is going to go through another super cycle." He linked that outcome to Beijing allowing access to trading, named capital flight as the bigger obstacle, and gave no timeline. Nothing in the Oct. 9 document points to a reopening.

Who builds it

A network run by the state, for the state's data and industrial goals, is a different thing from the open public chains most of the crypto industry uses. The directive does not say who would operate nodes, who could audit the ledger or how it would handle cross-border settlement.

The plan hands follow-up work to the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission and the National Development and Reform Commission. Their rules will show what the network carries, which agencies and companies plug into it, and whether private crypto stays shut out.