October 10, 2026 | BitcoinVersus.Tech SmartNews

China says it wants to build a national blockchain network as part of a broader push to connect its factories, data centers and digital economy. The announcement is real, but it does not mean China has launched a new cryptocurrency.

The Communist Party of China Central Committee and State Council issued the policy on October 9. Its ninth measure calls for a nationwide computing-power network and a national blockchain network, alongside smarter manufacturing and stronger rules for sharing and trading data. The official Chinese-language policy contains the directive.

What is China planning?

A blockchain is a digital record that multiple participating computers can verify and maintain. Governments and businesses can use the technology to check identities, track documents and coordinate data between organizations without relying on a single isolated database.

China’s new policy places blockchain next to its national computing infrastructure and industrial modernization plans. But it gives no named operator, technical design, budget or launch date for the proposed national network. It also does not specify whether the project will expand existing systems or create something new.

China already has blockchain infrastructure

This is not China’s first blockchain initiative. The country launched its Blockchain-based Service Network, or BSN, in 2020. Separately, Shanghai’s August 2026 digital-economy plan calls for improving its National Blockchain Network hub, including digital identity, privacy tools and services that connect different chains.

Does this mean China is embracing Bitcoin?

No such policy change was announced. The October 9 document does not mention Bitcoin, crypto trading, mining, tokens or a new national coin. A state-managed blockchain for identity and business records is not the same as Bitcoin’s permissionless network, where independent miners compete to validate blocks.

Nor does the document say the proposed network will run the digital yuan. China’s central bank digital currency is a separate monetary project. The two may both use digital infrastructure, but the government has not announced that one will operate on the other.

Why the announcement matters

If China connects its regional systems successfully, companies could find it easier to authenticate shipping records, manufacturing data, public credentials and cross-agency transactions. That is a possible application, not a claim that the national system already works at scale.

The infrastructure angle also connects to our coverage of data-center power efficiency, open-source technology and Bitcoin mining hardware. Blockchain adoption and Bitcoin mining, however, should not be confused.

SmartNews takeaway: China has formally made a national blockchain network a policy goal. The important unanswered questions are who will build it, what it will connect and when the public will see it operating.

Sources: China’s official October 9 policy and Reuters’ reporting on the wider technology initiative. The embedded video provides historical context; it does not depict the proposed network’s rollout.