China's New Blueprint Calls for a National Blockchain Network, Leaves Out Bitcoin

Among the 19 measures in a freshly unveiled economic blueprint, China's senior leaders have called for a national blockchain network. Officials are cautioned in the same text against creating bubbles and abandoning the real economy for the virtual.

A blockchain is a shared digital record spread across many computers. Beijing is keen on the technology, but the blueprint never mentions Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.

What China's Blockchain Blueprint Contains

On October 9, the policy came from the Communist Party's Central Committee and the State Council, China's cabinet. Xinhua, the state news agency, put it on the government website that day.

The blockchain provision is placed beside a nationwide computing grid in a section dealing with the integration of traditional industry and digital technology.

The document also endorses “East Data, West Computing,” a project that moves data from eastern cities to western data centers. Rules on data ownership and trading are requested separately.

A state-supported network, the Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), has been running in China since its launch in April 2020.

Independent cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are not allowed on BSN, according to Stanford's DigiChina project. Whether the national network will use that system as a foundation is left unclear in the latest document.

JUST IN: 🇨🇳 China officially calls for construction of national blockchain network as part of economic strategy.

— Whale Insider (@WhaleInsider), October 10, 2026

The Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission and the National Development and Reform Commission are the bodies taking on the follow-up work under the blueprint. The rules those two bodies set will decide what runs on the network and whether cryptocurrency stays excluded.

Why Bitcoin Is Left Out of China's Plan

Cryptocurrency trading is still illegal in mainland China. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) and seven other agencies reaffirmed that ban in February.

Beijing's efforts around digital money center on its own currency. According to Xinhua, the PBOC's five-year plan from August promised steady development for the digital yuan, China's state-issued digital currency.

Joseph Chee, the CEO of Nasdaq-listed Solana Company, appeared on CNBC three days before the economic blueprint came out.

“I think the crypto is going to go through another super cycle,” he said.

BeInCrypto reported earlier this week that Chee linked that result to Beijing allowing trading access. He described capital flight as the larger obstacle and provided no timeline.