Chinese companies are trying to outperform the United States in adopting blockchains
Recent figures in the Chinese press show that companies in China have applied for more than half of all global blockchain patents.
According to a report entitled „Developing the Blockchain Industry in 2020“, Chinese companies applied for 4,435 blockchain patents after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s endorsement of the industry. The study was jointly compiled by Tsinghua University, Beijing University and the China Institute of Communications.
During a committee session in October 2019, President Xi asked the country to accelerate the adoption of Bitcoin Blueprint as a core for innovation.
According to the study, technology giant Alibaba Group applied for the largest number of blockchain patents in 2020, reaching 200 patents. The number is 10 times higher than the number registered by IBM during the same period.
Large multinational companies have also shown immense interest in registering blockchain patents in China. The Cointelegraph reported a study suggesting that 35 multinationals, including Microsoft, Walmart, Mastercard, Sony and Intel, filed a total of 212 blockchain patents in March 2020.
In 2018, the World Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO, reported that the majority of patent applications for blockchain technology came from China.
Data collected by Thomson Reuters of the international patent organisation also showed that more than half of the 406 patents filed in 2017 came from China. The country came first with 225 blockchain patents, followed by the US with 91 and Australia with 13.