Chinese authorities have revealed that the country’s Blockchain Services Network (BSN), a project that has been under development since last year, with an aim to provide the masses with a platform to easily deploy their distributed ledger technology (DLT) applications without having to create their own private networks, will officially commence operations in April 2020, reports Sina Finance on January 7, 2020.

China to Roll Out BSN in April 

In a bid to solidify China’s status as a blockchain technology heavyweight and make it easier for firms and individuals alike to build and deploy blockchain solutions in a cost-efficient manner, a group of top firms in China, including China Mobile, a state-owned telecoms company, China UnionPay, China Merchants Bank and several others have been developing the Blockchain Service Network (BSN).

In the latest development, Tang Sisi, deputy director of the Smart City Development Research Center of the National Information Center (SIC), who was present at this year’s China Urban Governance and Innovation Forum,  has made it clear that the BSN will begin commercial operations in April 2020.

Per sources close to the matter, the team behind the project has been carrying out beta testing on the network, alongside 400 Chinese firms and 600 developers since October 2019; testing runs until March 2020.

China Sees Blockchain, Not Bitcoin 

As reported by BTCManager earlier in October 2019, China’s President Xi Jinping acknowledged the huge potential of blockchain technology and urged the nation to start paying more attention to the revolutionary technology in order to enable the nation to remain at the forefront of innovation.

Reportedly, the BSN whitepaper was also released during the China Urban Governance and Innovation Forum and it highlights the entire details of the project, including the network architecture, its advantages and more.

The BSN, which is led by the National Information Center, will have both a public and a permissioned chain, and the permissioned chains are further divided into alliance chains and private chains, says the team.

The BSN platform is reportedly powered by FISCO-BCOS, an open-source Chinese blockchain created by the Financial Blockchain Shenzhen Consortium, whose members include Huawei, ZTE, Tencent and WeBank.

In related news, on January 1, 2020, reports emerged that the Chinese government has implemented new legislation that aims to regulate cryptographic passwords in a bid to foster blockchain interoperability and enhance security.