NFT: China is preparing to launch its national platform

China likes to do nothing like other countries when it comes to framing new technology. After having banned the use of cryptocurrencies on its soil, the Chinese government announced the launch on January 1 of an NFT platform supervised by Beijing. A ceremony is organized in the Chinese capital for its inauguration this Sunday.

The platform will be operated by three public and private entities, including China Technology Exchange and Art Exhibitions China, both government-backed, and Huban Digital, a private company, according to a report by Chinese state media China Daily. The blockchain developed to carry out the exchange of the non-fungible tokens is dubbed “China Cultural Protection Chain”, according to the report.

Legal vagueness

A launch that clarifies China’s double game on a technology still surrounded by legal uncertainty, while the country has developed very strict regulations with regard to crypto-assets. NFTs, known as “digital collectibles,” are not banned in China, but they cannot be purchased with crypto or used as a speculative investment, unlike many other markets around the world.

In China, all cryptocurrency transactions are banned as the government develops its own digital yuan in parallel. The People’s Bank of China has extended the trial of its central bank digital currency to four new provinces, including Guangdong, its most populous region.

The marketplace, whose name translates to “China Digital Asset Trading Platform,” will be used to trade copyrights and digital property rights, as well as collectibles, among other things. A step forward for digital creators, because unlike musicians, authors and filmmakers, they traditionally do not benefit from the right to transfer their works on the secondary market. In November, a Chinese court ruled that digital assets have property rights similar to items sold on e-commerce sites, which is seen as a major step in protecting them.