China Orders National Blockchain Network in 19-Point Policy Without Bitcoin (BTC) Relief

A 19-Point Opinion From Beijing

China has directed authorities to build a national blockchain network and a unified national computing network, in a policy opinion issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council on Oct. 9 and carried by the official Xinhua News Agency. The document, framed as guidance on developing new quality productive forces, sets out 19 measures across five fields: scientific and technological innovation, industrial innovation, transformation of development methods, institutional reform and talent development. Its blockchain and computing commitments sit inside a section on connecting the real economy with the digital economy, alongside smart manufacturing, industrial internet projects and the East Data, West Computing program, which routes data generated in China's east to distributed nodes and data centers in the power-rich west, a design meant to narrow regional infrastructure gaps. The same section directs regulators to clarify data ownership, trading rules, rights allocation and participant protection, and to run pilot projects treating data as an economic resource while improving the construction and operation of national data infrastructure. On financing, the opinion calls for mechanisms that raise investment in future industries and share investment risk, tells authorities to use existing fiscal policy and urges sustained private capital participation in technology development. It also proposes digital industry clusters able to compete internationally, backed by a revised policy framework for both buyers and suppliers of digital products and services. Neither Bitcoin (BTC) price levels nor digital asset trading appear anywhere in the text; China bans both outright, and the opinion leaves that stance untouched. Earlier policy had already touched blockchain in finance: an April 6 notice from the State Administration of Taxation and the National Financial Regulatory Administration encouraged blockchain-based tax data sharing so banks could better assess small-business borrowers.

No Relaxation for Digital Assets

The most concrete blockchain deployment in China remains the digital yuan, a central bank digital currency the People's Bank of China has been widening all year. On Aug. 17 the central bank approved eight additional operators, Ping An Bank, Hengfeng Bank, China Bohai Bank, Bank of Shanghai, Bank of Hangzhou, Huishang Bank, Bank of Changsha and Guangxi Beibu Gulf Bank, lifting the count from 22 to 30 and tying the expansion to the 2026–2030 planning period. Under a framework introduced in January, verified digital yuan wallets can earn interest, qualifying balances receive deposit insurance protection, and non-bank payment companies must hold customer reserve funds entirely in the digital yuan. Regional plans point the same way: Guangdong's commerce department proposed cross-border digital yuan trials in a draft free trade zone plan for 2026–2030 released on Aug. 6, taking public feedback until Sep. 5. According to crypto.news, ICBC's Shanghai branch and ICBC Singapore settled nearly 10 million yuan of import shipping fees through the upgraded Digital Currency Express platform, with the recipient paid the same day. The new opinion itself adds no relaxation for digital asset issuance or trading. A February notice from the PBOC, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and other agencies extended oversight to stablecoins and tokenized assets, requiring authorization for offshore renminbi-pegged stablecoins and keeping enforcement against mining operations disguised as data centers. Cross-border data rules point the other way in Washington: the US Justice Department's Data Security Program restricts transactions that give countries of concern access to bulk personal data, designates China, including Hong Kong and Macau, as a country of concern, took effect in April 2025, and added due diligence, audit and reporting obligations in October 2025.

Blockchain as Infrastructure, Not Asset

Our reading is that the document treats blockchain as state-run infrastructure in the same basket as computing power and data markets, not as an asset layer to be opened. For Bitcoin (BTC) holders the practical effect is unchanged; Chinese participation in trading and mining stays prohibited, so the plan creates no new demand channel, and the ban long predates it. The binding constraint on any cross-border leg is legal rather than technical, since the Justice Department program keeps China-related data transactions restricted. What comes next is execution: the opinion sets no timetable for the national network, and the data-market pilot projects are where concrete rules on ownership and trading should surface first.