CITIC Bank Xuanqi: Practice and Future of Blockchain Technology in Financial Scenes

Author: Xuan Qi (Deputy Director of CITIC International Settlement Head Office at the International Business Bank)

Source: Sina Finance

Recently, blockchain has become the focus of attention, causing a lot of attention and discussion. With the "blockchain as an important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies" and "accelerating the promotion of blockchain technology and industrial innovation", the development and application of blockchain has opened up more imagination.

What is a blockchain? From a technical perspective, the blockchain involves many scientific and technical knowledge such as mathematics, cryptography, the Internet, and computer programming. From an application perspective, in simple terms, the blockchain is a distributed shared ledger and database, which has the characteristics of decentralization, non-tampering, trace retention, traceability, collective maintenance, and transparency. These characteristics ensure the “honesty” and “transparency” of the blockchain, laying the foundation for creating trust in the blockchain.

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Many banks have been able to solve the problem of information asymmetry based on blockchain, and have begun to explore the financial scenarios of blockchain landing. According to the survey, at least a dozen banks in China have launched their own blockchain application platforms. The landing scenarios involve inter-bank transactions, supply chain finance, and smart contracts. However, the author notes that there are currently two major platforms for domestic banking transactions and huge trading volume: the People's Bank of China trade finance blockchain platform (referred to as “the central bank trade finance blockchain platform”) and the BCFT blockchain Forfaiting deal. platform. The two platforms are based on the blockchain platform of the trade finance scene. What is the difference between the two? The individual combed the characteristics of the two platforms in the following four directions.

1. Platform launch background

The central bank's trade finance blockchain platform, jointly established by the People's Bank of China and a number of listed companies, is located in the Greater Bay Area of ​​Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau.

The BCFT blockchain Forfeiting trading platform was jointly designed and developed by Bank of China, China CITIC Bank, China Minsheng Bank, China Everbright Bank and Ping An Bank. It was jointly established by 16 banks under the macro guidance of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission. Service organization – Ronglian Yiyun Financial Information Service (Beijing) Co., Ltd. is responsible for operation.

2, landing different segments

The central bank's trade finance blockchain platform is mainly based on the supply chain financing scenario, and has focused on solving the disputes between the construction principals and governance mechanisms in the supply chain financial scenario, opening up users, scenarios and public services, and officially launched the trial on September 4, 2018. After the operation, there are currently more than 30 banks accessing, with a business volume of more than 760 billion yuan.

The BCFT blockchain Forfeiting cloud platform is mainly for the Forfeiting transaction in the inter-bank secondary market. The uplink banks are the mainstream banks in the Forfeiting business secondary market. Since the platform was launched on September 30, 2018, it is now More than 30 banking institutions have joined or explicitly added their intentions. As of the end of October 2019, the cumulative trading volume was as high as 270 billion yuan.

3. Platform technology application

The central bank's trade finance blockchain platform is mainly for the supply chain of multi-level financing of supply chain accounts, cross-border financing, international trade account supervision, and external payment tax filing form. Through the use of blockchain technology, it can solve the pain points that the participants in the traditional supply chain process cannot cooperate to process related business processes through the same platform. By providing the underlying technology platform, the problem of repeated development platforms and poor compatibility of various parties in the traditional business is solved. Automating the process of the chain by changing the processing method of the traditional process waterfall through smart contract technology. Through the process automation and digitization of the chain, the trust between the participants is enhanced, and the difficulties that the trust cannot be transmitted in the traditional process are broken.

The business model of “cloud + blockchain” used by the BCFT blockchain Forfeiting cloud platform. The platform has realized the full-line operation of the domestic letter of credit for the Forfeiting secondary market. For the Forfeiting business, the pre-inquiry, asset post-inquiry inquiry, fund quotation multi-scenario business concurrent, logical serial application service process are tailored to ensure the compatibility, flexibility, flexibility and expandability of the system. At the same time, in the form of alliance chain, according to the inter-bank transaction business scenario, the independent research and development blockchain application layer function, the original Business Point management terminal, effectively facilitate the connection of the bank multi-level organizational management structure. The platform adopts a combination of technical alliances and business alliances to establish an open and shared cooperation model.

4. Platform vision

The central bank's trade finance blockchain platform is positioned in the financial infrastructure that provides public services for trade finance. Although the platform is located in the Greater Bay Area of ​​Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, it is committed to becoming an open and shared trade finance ecosystem that faces the whole country and radiates the world. Shenzhen PBOC said that next, the central bank's trade finance blockchain platform will accelerate ecological construction and nationwide promotion work, and prepare to connect with similar platforms overseas such as China's Hong Kong trade linkage platform to provide more convenient trade financing services.

The BCFT blockchain Forfeiting cloud platform has become the most mature and standardized business platform in the domestic market. In the future, the BCFT platform will focus on integrating the technologies and expertise of each bank, promoting the improvement of the overall standards of the industry, and ultimately connecting banks with banks, banks and other institutions and enterprises, and learning from each other in the shared trading circle. Become a long-term alliance chain and build a financial ecosystem with high efficiency, cooperation and win-win.

postscript

The current blockchain technology is still in the early stages of development. Just like the Internet around 2000, although it is full of various possibilities, there are very few successful large-scale applications. For this emerging technology, we cannot overestimate the impact it will bring in the short term, nor can we ignore the long-term changes it brings. It is believed that with the in-depth application of blockchain technology in the financial scene, there will be more transactions and information exchanges to establish an interconnected and mutual trust system through the blockchain, and finally realize a world of “Internet of Everything + Internet of 10,000 Chains”.

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