China’s tax and financial regulators have pushed banks and local governments to adopt blockchain and privacy-computing tools to strengthen “bank–tax interaction” and widen financing for small and medium-sized enterprises.
In a joint policy notice, the State Administration of Taxation and the National Financial Regulatory Administration urged standardized data sharing to reduce information asymmetry among tax authorities, banks and firms. The directive asks banks to modernize credit models, speed up approval processes and expand lending to compliant, tax-paying companies.
The move fits Beijing’s larger plan to fold blockchain into national data infrastructure. In January 2025 the National Development and Reform Commission issued a roadmap aiming for nationwide blockchain implementation by 2029. Shen Zhulin, deputy director of the National Data Administration, said at a January 2025 briefing that blockchain-based data infrastructure could attract roughly 400 billion yuan (about $58 billion) in annual investment.
China has promoted blockchain technology even while maintaining tight controls on cryptocurrencies. Since President Xi Jinping’s 2019 call to accelerate blockchain development and integrate it with the real economy, authorities have rolled out initiatives such as the Shenzhen tax authority’s expansion of a blockchain electronic invoice system in April 2021. At the same time, Beijing banned crypto trading and mining nationwide in September 2021 as part of a broader regulatory crackdown.
Despite the ban, China remains a notable presence in Bitcoin mining: Compass Mining reported China accounted for about 11.7% of global Bitcoin hashrate in January 2026.
The recent notice underscores a dual strategy: curtail speculative crypto activity while promoting blockchain and privacy-preserving data technologies to improve transparency, reduce lending frictions and boost credit access for law-abiding businesses.