China Targets Digital Growth With New National Blockchain Network as Crypto Ban Remains

China is preparing to expand its blockchain infrastructure as part of a broader strategy to integrate digital technology into its economy, while maintaining its prohibition on private cryptocurrency trading.

The plan was outlined in a policy document titled Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Developing New Productive Forces, published by the state news agency Xinhua on Friday. The document calls for a national blockchain network alongside wider efforts to modernize manufacturing, expand computing infrastructure and connect digital systems with the country’s real economy.

The announcement does not indicate a change in Beijing’s stance toward decentralized cryptocurrencies, according to Yahoo Finance. The policy document makes no reference to Bitcoin or other independent digital assets, and mainland China’s sweeping restrictions on cryptocurrency transactions, introduced in 2021, remain in place. Foreign crypto companies are also barred from providing services to mainland residents.

China Separates Blockchain Development From Crypto Trading

Beijing has continued to invest in blockchain technology despite its restrictions on cryptocurrency markets. The technology already underpins China’s Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), a state-backed infrastructure platform designed to support enterprise and government applications rather than facilitate trading in assets such as Bitcoin.

It remains unclear whether the planned national network will build on the existing BSN infrastructure. The policy document does not specify how the new system will be developed or connected to current platforms.

China is also expanding the reach of its central bank digital currency, the digital yuan. In August, the number of banks authorized to provide digital yuan services increased from 22 to 30, as authorities sought to encourage broader adoption of the sovereign digital currency.

Together, these initiatives illustrate Beijing’s approach to digital finance: expanding state-backed infrastructure and controlled forms of digital money without opening the market to privately issued cryptocurrencies.

Digital Infrastructure Becomes a Broader Economic Priority

The blockchain proposal forms part of a wider push to modernize China’s economic infrastructure. The policy document calls for greater integration between digital technologies and traditional industries, including through the digitalization of manufacturing.

It also highlights plans for a national integrated computing power network and the continued implementation of the “Eastern Data, Western Computing” initiative. The program is designed to shift data storage and computing workloads from China’s densely populated eastern regions toward less-developed western areas, where land and energy resources are more abundant.

The strategy aims to connect the country’s digital infrastructure with its industrial base, supporting the use of computing capacity and data resources across the economy.

However, the policy also warns against allowing digital development to become detached from productive economic activity. Officials are cautioned against prioritizing the virtual economy at the expense of the real economy, pursuing expansion without clear limits or creating speculative bubbles.

The Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission and the National Development and Reform Commission are expected to play key roles in implementing and overseeing the broader digitalization agenda, including the integration of blockchain infrastructure into national systems.

Conflux Rises as Investors React to the Announcement

China’s blockchain plans also drew attention to Conflux (CFX), a public blockchain project often associated with the country’s regulated technology ecosystem.

According to the source report, CFX climbed after the announcement, rising above $0.07 on Sunday before trading at around $0.066 at 8 a.m. EDT. That price represented a gain of more than 26% from Saturday’s close.

Conflux has attracted attention because of its links to state-backed corporations and its founders’ professional and academic connections to Tsinghua University. The project is widely regarded as a China-aligned public blockchain, although the policy document does not identify Conflux as a participant in the planned national network.

There is also no confirmation that the new infrastructure will use Conflux technology or that the announcement will lead to changes in the project’s regulatory status.

China’s planned blockchain network therefore signals an expansion of the country’s digital infrastructure strategy, not an opening of its cryptocurrency market. Beijing appears intent on advancing blockchain, computing and digital currency within a framework that keeps these technologies aligned with state priorities and the productive economy.