China sets 2030 deadline for national blockchain network

China wants a national blockchain network in place by 2030, according to a plan the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission released on October 23. The target sits inside the country's 15th Five-Year Plan for informatization, which folds blockchain into a wider digital infrastructure agenda alongside 6G, computing power, satellite internet and AI.

That placement matters. Blockchain in this document is not a financial experiment — it is industrial plumbing. Beijing wants to expand the network's central backbone, connect regional hubs and strengthen distributed digital identity services, all by the end of the decade.

The plan, reported by Crypto Briefing, describes a network infrastructure system covering land, sea, air and space. It also calls for the timely launch of commercial 6G services and faster development of what Beijing calls the intelligent internet.

What is actually in the plan?

The document sets out four broad technology commitments:

• A national blockchain network with an expanded central backbone and connected regional hubs
• An integrated computing power network to upgrade industrial infrastructure
• Commercial 6G services, launched on a timeline the plan describes only as timely
• Deeper integration of digital technologies into the real economy — manufacturing, primarily

The strategy additionally prioritizes cyberspace technology advances, breakthroughs in what it calls key technologies, and development of the domestic industry ecosystem. It sets a 2030 horizon for expanding digital applications across economic and social activities and for strengthening cybersecurity alongside the related legal and technical standards.

That standards commitment is not decorative. Distributed digital identity only functions across a network if identity frameworks, security protocols and legal recognition move together — which is presumably why the plan bundles them.

Where does this fit in Chinese policy?

The informatization plan did not arrive alone. Earlier in October, the Communist Party Central Committee and the State Council published a policy framework for developing what they call new productive forces. That framework prioritizes manufacturing digitalization, AI and emerging technologies, and it explicitly calls for constructing the national blockchain network together with the integrated computing power network.

Read together, the two documents describe a single logic: upgrade industrial infrastructure, reduce dependence on foreign technology, and improve what Beijing terms technological self-reliance. Blockchain earns its place in that stack as infrastructure for data sharing and trusted identity, not as a payments layer.

What the plan does not say

The document is silent on implementation detail. It names no budget figures, no responsible operators, no interim milestones between now and 2030, and no metrics by which backbone expansion or regional hub connection would be measured. The 6G commitment — timely commercial launch — carries the same vagueness, which is notable given that 6G standardization work globally is still in its early stages.

The gap between announcement and engineering is the story here. A national blockchain network spanning regional hubs implies coordination among provincial governments, state-owned enterprises and standards bodies that the plan does not allocate.

Blockchain yes, crypto no

Beijing's enthusiasm for blockchain infrastructure stops at its border with cryptocurrency. China continues to restrict crypto trading and related business activities, and regulators reaffirmed those restrictions earlier this year — extending the policy framework to cover yuan-pegged stablecoins and real-world asset tokenization.

The distinction is deliberate. The state builds the ledger; the market does not trade on it. Any reading of the 2030 target as a softening on crypto would misread the document.

For telecom and infrastructure watchers, the plan's significance lies less in blockchain than in the bundle: a single 2030 deadline now governs a space-terrestrial network architecture, commercial 6G, a national computing grid and distributed identity services. Whether the backbone materializes on schedule will depend on the funding and assignments Beijing has yet to publish.