China: Loudi City Mayor Promotes Blockchain to Fight Crime

The mayor of Loudi, a city in China’s Hunan province, has characterized blockchain technology as a powerful “weapon” that can effectively tackle crime.

At a meeting of Loudi’s Municipal Public Security Bureau on Aug. 10, Mayor Yang Yiwen responded to reports on the progress of a trial blockchain project that is currently being conducted by the bureau and a local technology firm. 

The project combines blockchain technology with multi-party computing and big data to improve trusted data exchange and information traceability across a collaborative network. 

This network unites telecommunication network operators, banks and public data from various municipal departments, such as water and electricity.

At the meeting, officials from the Municipal Public Security Bureau reported on the trial’s progress, with a focus on the potential of the blockchain-powered system to crack down on illicit activities. 

The tech firm, Hunan Chain City Digital Technology Co. Ltd., reported on the project’s design concept and related issues, and also provided demonstration of the system in prototype.

In response, Yang Yiwen said that blockchain technology, together with big data, could be used as a weapon to effectively combat crime. Blockchain, together with big data, can increase the accuracy, depth and breadth of coordinated investigations, he said. 

The mayor pledged to actively seek further support for the project in the province, and to strive to make the city of Loudi the first in the country to use blockchain as a crime-fighting technology.

China’s blockchain sector booms 

As Cointelegraph has previously reported, China’s blockchain sector has seen significant growth in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. 

New statistics indicate that there are 84,410 registered blockchain firms, of which 29,340 are in operation. The Guangdong Province in Southeast China currently has the highest number of blockchain startups, with Yunnan Province in the southwest coming in second. 

China’s ambitious nationwide project, the Blockchain-based Service Network, has just today launched a new English-language website seeking to attract international developers.