China wants to build a national blockchain network. In a strategic document published on October 9, 2026, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council included this infrastructure among the priorities of economic modernization. The goal is to better connect businesses, IT systems and data across the country. This announcement might seem favorable for Bitcoin. However, the official text does not mention any crypto and Beijing maintains particularly severe restrictions on their financial use.
In brief
- On October 9, 2026, Beijing officially included the construction of a national blockchain network in its economic strategy.
- Chinese regulations from February 2026 still prohibit major trading and financial services activities related to cryptocurrencies.
- The project could strengthen Chinese digital infrastructure, but no official evidence demonstrates a direct benefit for Bitcoin.
China includes blockchain in its strategic infrastructures
THE document published by the National Data Administration presents 19 guidelines intended to develop what Beijing calls “new productive forces”. Blockchain appears precisely in the ninth point, dedicated to the integration of the real economy and the digital economy. The government plans to build a national blockchain network alongside a unified IT network, the development of industrial artificial intelligence and the improvement of data infrastructure.
This ambition does not arise out of nowhere. By 2023, Shanghai was preparing its own blockchain infrastructure, in particular to facilitate the circulation of data and modernize public services. The new plan takes a political step: blockchain is no longer only considered on the scale of certain cities or industries. It now appears explicitly in national development guidelines.
The economic interest is concrete. A common infrastructure could facilitate the verification of documents, the traceability of goods and the sharing of information between businesses and administrations.
However, the text does not specify either the network budget, its deployment schedule, or its technical architecture. This is therefore a government orientation, not the announcement of an already operational infrastructure.
BSN network reveals Beijing’s real strategy
To understand this decision, we must examine an already existing infrastructure: the Blockchain-based Service Network, or BSN. Designed from 2018 with the participation of the Chinese National Information Center, China Mobile and China UnionPay, this network was publicly presented in October 2019, before its commercial launch in 2020.
In a publication of September 20, 2026the National Information Center describes its evolution toward digital identities, electronic credentials and secure data exchange.
A very different model from Bitcoin.
Bitcoin works like a public network. Everyone can verify transactions and participate in their operation according to the rules of the protocol, without authorization from an administration.
Conversely, an authorized access blockchain can reserve the validation of transactions to identified institutions. It retains shared registry mechanisms, but its operation depends on defined governance.
Program analysis Stanford DigiChina shows in particular that the domestic BSN was designed in an environment distinct from international public networks. This orientation corresponds to the uses sought by Chinese institutions. In April 2026, Tremplin.io already reported the authorities’ interest in blockchain applications in banking services.
One point nevertheless remains open. Indeed, the government has not indicated whether the future national network will be based directly on BSN, on a new architecture or on several interconnected infrastructures.
Why Bitcoin remains absent from the Chinese project
The main obstacle is not technological. It is regulatory. On February 6, 2026, the People’s Bank of China and seven other authorities issued new regulations, referenced Yinfa [2026] No. 42, devoted to the risks of cryptocurrencies and tokenization.
This official text expressly designates Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether as assets without legal tender status. It prohibits in mainland China conversion activities between traditional currencies and cryptocurrencies, exchanges between digital assets as well as several associated intermediation, financing and marketing services.
Authorities also tightened restrictions on yuan-pegged stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets, while providing some exceptions for specifically permitted activities.
This policy, already analyzed by Tremplin.io during the tightening of the rules on stablecoins, shows that Beijing does not reject all distributed ledgers. Above all, it seeks to prevent the development of financial systems beyond its control.
The distinction is fundamental.
A blockchain used to certify an industrial invoice does not require creating a tradable currency on the markets. And building a national blockchain network does not automatically generate additional demand for bitcoin.
Nothing in the October 9 plan changes the February bans. Interpreting this announcement as an upcoming legalization of bitcoin would therefore amount to confusing a digital infrastructure policy with financial reform.
Digital Yuan and Hong Kong: two other pieces of the puzzle
Chinese monetary strategy confirms this separation. Beijing has been developing the digital yuan, or e-CNY, for several years, a digital currency issued under the authority of the central bank. Unlike Bitcoin, this currency is not designed to operate independently of a state. It aims to modernize payments while maintaining the role of monetary institutions.
China is also seeking to expand the possibilities for international use of the digital yuan. The case of Hong Kong introduces an important nuance. The special administrative region has its own regulatory framework for digital assets, different from that of mainland China.
But this difference does not mean that Chinese companies can freely circumvent Beijing’s restrictions. Regulatory uncertainties regarding their participation in the Hong Kong stablecoin market had already been reported in 2025.
We must therefore distinguish three initiatives: the national blockchain network for infrastructure, the digital yuan for payments and the digital assets market managed separately in Hong Kong. Bringing them together under the same dynamic of openness to Bitcoin would give a misleading image of Chinese policy.
What this announcement actually changes for Bitcoin
For Chinese technology companies, the decision could open new avenues in blockchain software, digital identification, traceability and system interoperability. These prospects remain conditional on future public investments, technical standards and network access modalities.
For Bitcoin, the consequences are much less direct. The October 9 document does not provide for the reopening of exchange platforms, nor the authorization of new financial services in BTC, nor the integration of the Bitcoin network into the announced infrastructure.
It also does not provide any evidence to establish a measurable effect on the price of bitcoin.
Three signals will therefore deserve particular attention: the publication of technical specifications, the announcement of pilot projects with their financing and any official modification of the February financial regulations.
Without these elements, anticipating an influx of Chinese capital into Bitcoin would be premature. The immediate impact of the decision lies elsewhere. Beijing confirms that blockchain can become a strategic infrastructure without private cryptocurrencies obtaining a place in the national financial system. For Bitcoin, it is the next regulatory decisions, more than just the construction of the network, which will make it possible to measure a possible change of course.
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