Local Development Under Blockchain Policy Dividends: Explorations in Xiong'an, Hainan, and Guizhou

In recent years, blockchain technology has become a hot topic, and governments at all levels are paying more and more attention to this emerging technology. In order to attract blockchain enterprises and promote technological innovation, many local governments have introduced supportive policies. In this wave, Xiong'an New Area, Hainan Free Trade Zone, and Guizhou Province are at the forefront, each exploring the application and development of blockchain technology in different ways.

Xiong'an New Area: Building a Model of Smart City

As a forward-looking millennial plan, Xiong'an New Area considers cutting-edge technologies such as Blockchain as core elements of urban construction. The "Outline of Planning for Hebei Xiong'an New Area" released in April 2018 clearly proposes to proactively layout the research and testing of technologies such as Blockchain.

Xiong'an New Area plans to widely apply Blockchain in the construction of smart cities and public affairs management. For example, the Hebei provincial government has proposed to fully utilize new technologies such as Blockchain to innovate and improve the government service system. Xiong'an will also create a powerful "city brain" to achieve smart city governance and resource optimization through technologies such as Blockchain.

Currently, in Xiong'an New Area, blockchain technology has been introduced in various aspects such as engineering construction, housing leasing, project financing, and payment of migrant workers' salaries. It can be said that Xiong'an is becoming a true "Blockchain City," leading urban development with technological innovation.

Hainan Free Trade Zone: Blockchain Empowers the Real Economy

In April 2018, the decision to build a free trade pilot zone across Hainan Island brought new opportunities for the development of Blockchain in the region. In October of the same year, the "Hainan Free Trade Zone (Port) Blockchain Pilot Zone" was officially established, becoming the first blockchain pilot zone in the country to receive official certification.

Hainan Ecological Software Park has attracted many well-known Blockchain companies to settle in, and has established partnerships with top research institutions both domestically and internationally. The Hainan Provincial Government hopes to promote Blockchain as a mainstream technology through this and to address the various challenges it faces in its development.

Unlike Xiong'an New Area, Hainan focuses more on applying Blockchain to industrial development, empowering the real economy with technological innovation. The Hainan Provincial Government has successively issued multiple policies to encourage the application of Blockchain technology in areas such as financial innovation and logistics optimization, aiming to promote industrial upgrading through technological innovation.

Guizhou: Technological Transformation from Big Data to Blockchain

After experiencing rapid growth in big data development, Guizhou has turned its attention to Blockchain technology. As one of the earliest regions in the country to lay out a blockchain strategy, Guizhou is at the forefront of national policy formulation and industrial planning.

As early as 2016, Guiyang released a white paper on blockchain development, proposing the goal of building a sovereign blockchain demonstration zone. Since then, Guizhou has successively introduced a series of supportive policies covering various aspects of blockchain industry development.

Compared to Xiong'an and Hainan, a notable feature of blockchain development in Guizhou is the direct involvement of government departments. Guizhou fully leverages its advantages in the big data sector, focusing on areas such as data security and digital assets, and strives to create a complete blockchain industry ecosystem.

Overall, the development of Blockchain in Xiong'an New Area, Hainan Free Trade Zone, and Guizhou Province shows obvious characteristics of policy leadership. Although these regions do not have outstanding innate conditions in the field of Blockchain, they have achieved a leading position nationwide through policy guidance and resource integration. At the same time, the development strategies of the three areas also have their own characteristics, focusing respectively on smart city construction, industrial innovation, and big data integration, fully reflecting the development approach tailored to local conditions.