Link copied 
China’s Ministry of Finance has announced that national information platform for public-private partnership (PPP) projects has been upgraded and is now online.
In a press release dated February 17, the ministry said that the upgrade was the result of two years of joint efforts. The objective was to “implement the reform requirements of "decentralized management services", improving the PPP project supervision, service and information disclosure capabilities, and promoting the high-quality development of PPP.”
With this upgrade, the platform now leverages cutting-edge technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI).
“The new platform uses the latest information technology achievements such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, and big data to expand the platform architecture and functions, improve the degree of information verification and accuracy, enhance the ability of intelligent supervision and big data calculation and analysis, and facilitate information acquisition,” the ministry said.
The national information monitoring and service platform for PPP projects was launched in November 2019, Xinhua Net reported. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) had said that around 7,000 were registered on the platform by early November with a total investment of about 9 trillion yuan (or $1.28 trillion approximately).
The ministry said that the upgraded platform will further drive the PPP field to use information technology to innovate working methods and improve work efficiency.
The announcement comes amid the coronavirus outbreak, which has claimed over 2,000 lives around the world. However, this does not seem to have deterred the country from advancing its blockchain efforts.
Just recently, Xuan Changneng, vice director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, revealed that 87 businesses have received over $200 million in loans through a blockchain-based cross-border payments pilot platform since the Lunar New Year holiday.
[The article has been written using an online translation of the press release in Chinese.]
