Ethereum-Compatible Quorum Connects BSN to Serve 80 Chinese Cities

ConsenSys has partnered with China’s Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) to make its Quorum open-source protocol layer for building Ethereum-based enterprise solutions more accessible for enterprises and government organizations in about 80 Chinese cities.

Quorum provides the enterprise-grade networks users will need to unlock value with blockchain. It enables developers to build dApps that can be integrated with product modules from ConsenSys, third-party vendors, or in-house including being easily interpreted with BSN to create advanced IT systems that can satisfy sophisticated business logic.

The combo will lead to “building the blockchain cornerstone for the ‘new infrastructure’ in China,” according to Yifan He, CEO of Red Date Technology and the executive director of BSN Development Association.

US-China tech war link  

The significance of the partnership to the US-China tech approach cannot be overlooked. The BSN’s blockchain-based global infrastructure network for launching dApps meeting ConsenSys’ Quorum which spans enterprises’ needs for privacy, permissioned features and Ethereum-compatible will enable many Chinese enterprises to “benefit from transparent collaborative business networks”.

There have been calls for the relationship between the two countries to improve in terms of technology development. When China announced it is opening up to foreign investments in key areas of its economy in December, there was a glimmer of hope that changes are coming especially as PayPal afterwards became the first foreign operator with 100% control of a payment platform in China.

PayPal, which embraced cryptocurrencies last year (though in the US for now), was able to acquire a final 30% stake in China’s GoPay according to shareholder data from the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System about a year after buying a 70% stake in the company.

However, work continues on the needed changes as Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week called for the US not to form an alliance with the EU against Beijing on any move to freeze China out of global trade and technology networks which could reignite the Cold War.

Other calls on US-China tech rivalry

Aside from Jinping’s remark, a China Strategy Group formed in July 2020 to help tackle key difficult questions regarding the US competitiveness with China on technology, released a report which “advances policies that position the United States to out-compete China without inviting escalatory cycles of confrontation, retaliation, or unintended conflict.”

The “Asymmetric Competition: A Strategy for China & Technology” report cites, amongst other things, that the US’s inaction on the matter could encourage the circumventing of sanctions, money laundering, and criminal/terrorist financing.  

“Chinese digital payments systems such as DCEP can enable Chinese entities or other countries to transact internationally without the USD, circumventing and weakening U.S. financial sanctions,” it states, adding that “55% of trade between Russia and China is no longer denominated in USD, indicating both countries’ desire to circumvent USD settlement and the U.S. banking System.”

The authors, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, also note the need for a “Proactive investment in payment technologies and central bank digital currencies (CBDC) to counteract the investments being made by the Chinese government in their CBDC and digital settlement layer are necessary to avoid a 5G situation in 5 years.”