The operators of a Chinese blockchain-powered cross-border trade pilot platform are set to develop the platform’s scope – with multi-million dollar trade deals being conducted in a key testbed area. As per Haiwainet, the central government is trialing the effectiveness of the network in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, also recognized as the Pearl River Delta. Official figures reveal that the platform has handled USD 4.4bn worth of transactions so far this year.

The platform reportedly enables companies to apply for bank financing faster and more efficiently than utilizing conventional financing systems. It also provides customs officials to operate on cross-border trade deals at a reportedly much more accelerated rate, heightening the speed of international exports. Nevertheless, the government has now given its consent to the operators’ plans to expand the range of the pilot, enabling companies to make applications to creditors and determine the worth of their business proposals on the same platform – and make authenticity verification checks.

One company in the Nansha District section of the testbed in Guangzhou currently reported that it had adopted blockchain-powered authenticity verification solutions to conduct a cross-border trade for a company based in the district.

The company utilized the platform to conduct an international deal in a foreign currency and was worth USD 5.52m. The same media outlet continued that “almost 400” companies in nine cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area have made utilization of the platform for payments – and stated that the initiative has been “broadly welcomed” by market players in the testbed area.