China plans to launch a national NFT marketplace next year

On January 1, Beijing, the capital of the Republic of China, will host the opening of China’s first government Non-Fungible Token (NFT) market. This indicates that it still embraces technology.

State-backed NFT marketplace to be launched in China

The “China Digital Asset Trading Platform”, known to be a state-backed market, will be released in Beijing on January 1, 2023. The controlled platform will act as a secondary market where users can exchange digital collectibles, property ownership and trademarks.

A report by Sina News states that the state-owned Chinese technology exchange, state-owned Art Exhibitions China, and a private organization called Huban Digital Copyrights Ltd. will cooperate to manage the NFT platform.

The report also states that the platform is based on the “China Cultural Protection Chain”, a permissioned chain as opposed to the permissionless chains of conventional NFTs. The strict regulations place limitations on the type of digital art produced on blockchains.

Yu Jianing, a specialist in Chinese virtual currencies and the metaverse space, claims that the establishment of the China Digital Assets Exchange marks a step forward in the country’s cultural industry’s virtual transformation.

Prior to this, the Chinese central bank revealed its plans for CBDC and made trial versions of mobile apps for digital yuan wallets available.

However, a regulation barring all cryptocurrency transactions was passed in China in 2021, thus banning digital tokens such as Bitcoin. The nation has also retaliated harshly against those engaged in cryptocurrency mining. Several cryptocurrency businesses in the country, such as Huocoin, Binance, BiKi, BHEX and others, are closing down as a result of the ban.

Although, as the government works to control them, the nation begins to take an interest in the metaverse and NFTs. Zhejiang, a province in eastern China, recently declared ambitions to create metaverse-related companies worth more than 200 billion yuan by 2025.

China versus NFTs

For NFTs, the situation is more complicated. Digital collectibles are often sold for fiat money and cannot be traded. However, the NFT law remains unclear, and leading internet firms such as Tencent have created networks only to falter later.

This action also means that Bored Apes and Meebits are unlikely to appear anytime soon on a Chinese state-run official NFT marketplace. The Chinese Cultural Preservation Chain, a blockchain developed by Huaban and the Chinese Cultural Relics Exchange Institute, will serve as the foundation for the China Digital Assets Trading Platform.

What the finished project will look like is unclear. The institute has previously expressed enthusiasm for how museums and other cultural centers can use NFT. The institute is mainly concerned with planning archaeological and ethnic exhibitions both in China and globally. Such NFTs can also be targeted by the next market, but with the added feature that people can trade what they are selling.

It is also unclear how this fits with the government’s concerns about NFTs and cryptocurrency speculation. However, museums around the world have tested NFTs as a unique source of funding and a means of engaging younger people. In March, a cultural heritage park in Xi’an earned RMB 600,000 (US$86,000) after selling 30,000 NFTs on auction site Taobao in just nine minutes.

Final thoughts

Despite not being as well-liked as they are elsewhere in the world, NFTs have been a favorite among Chinese traders for most of the past two years. According to local regulations, NFTs in China cannot be purchased with cryptocurrencies and are instead referred to as digital collectibles rather than NFTs.

In addition, closed, strictly regulated platforms are used instead of open ones for trading digital artworks. When a Chinese court ruled earlier this month that digital assets share the same property rights as products sold on e-commerce websites, it marked a significant step forward in the protection of digital assets.

Ken Emmanuel is a blockchain content writer, a Web3 enthusiast and a social media management strategist, he enjoys writing educational content to help people become more knowledgeable and inspired. The growth of any organization he works with is always his priority. He is a geographer by profession and loves to read.