China's First National Standard for Blockchain Technology Approved for Development

Recently, in accordance with the "Notice of the Standardization Administration of China on Issuing the Plan for the Formulation and Revision of National Standards for the Fourth Batch of 2017" (Standardization Administration of China Comprehensive [2017] No. 128),"Information Technology—Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology Reference Architecture" Approved as the First National Standard in the Blockchain Field。

This national standard is proposed based on the published group standard “Blockchain Reference Architecture.” It represents a significant achievement in implementing the spirit of a series of policy documents, including the National Standardization System Construction Development Plan (2016–2020), the Reform Plan for Deepening Standardization Work, and the Special Action Plan for Building a New-Type Standardization System (2016), issued by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Standardization Administration of China, among others. These documents aim to establish a new-type standardization system characterized by the synergistic development and coordinated compatibility of government-led standards and market-driven standards.

Blockchain, as an emerging application model,It has extensive application value in fields such as financial services, supply chain management, healthcare, culture and entertainment, intelligent manufacturing, social welfare, and education and employment.. In recent years, blockchain technology and its applications have been undergoing rapid development, with a continuous emergence of various blockchain products and services in the market.

Meanwhile, a comprehensive blockchain standard system has yet to be established both domestically and internationally, leading to fragmented industry development and a degree of blindness in industry applications, which is detrimental to the practical implementation and technological advancement of blockchain. The standardization of blockchain helps unify the understanding of blockchain, regulate and guide its application across various industries, and facilitate the resolution of key technical issues, holding significant importance for the development of the blockchain industrial ecosystem.

Domestic and international standardization organizations have carried out a series of initiatives in blockchain standardization, including organizational development and preliminary standard research, and have achieved initial progress. Since 2016,International standardization organizations such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), gradually initiating the layout and implementation of blockchain standardization efforts.

For example, the W3C has established working groups on digital verification and cross-chain communication in the blockchain space, and the ITU has also set up a dedicated group focused on blockchain. In September 2016, ISO established Technical Committee ISO/TC 307 (Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies) specifically to address blockchain standards.As of December 2017, ISO/TC 307 had 29 participating member countries and 13 observing member countries.。

Following two working meetings held in April and November 2017, ISO/TC 307 established three working groups, namely the Foundations Working Group (WG1), the Security, Privacy and Authentication Working Group (WG2), and the Strategic Business Plan Ad Hoc Group; as well as four study groups, namely the Use Cases Study Group (SG2), the Smart Contracts Study Group (SG5), the Governance Study Group (SG6), and the Interoperability Study Group (SG7).

Some domestic standardization bodies have also swiftly initiated efforts to explore blockchain standardization, under the guidance of the Department of Information Technology and Software Services Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Second Division of Industrial Standards of the Standardization Administration of China.China Electronics Standardization Institute, together with Wanxiang, WeBank, Ant Financial, Wanda, Ping An and other enterprises, established the China Blockchain Technology and Industry Development Forum, the Forum has established a Standards Working Group to carry out work such as the development of group standards.

Since its establishment, the forum has conducted research on blockchain standard systems, proposing both a blockchain standard system and a blockchain application standard system to provide a basis for subsequent standard development; it has developed and released"Blockchain Reference Architecture" and "Blockchain Data Format Specification"Two group standards. Among them, "Blockchain Reference Architecture" was successfully selected as one of the first batch of "100 Group Standard Application Demonstration Projects" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on December 28, 2017.

In addition, based on the group standard “Blockchain Reference Architecture,” we carried out functional testing of blockchain systems, hosted the inaugural Blockchain Development Competition, and advanced the development of a domestically autonomous open-source blockchain community—Distributed Application Ledger (DAppLedger).

As the domestic technical focal point for the International Organization for Standardization’s ISO/TC 307 (Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies), the China Electronics Standardization Institute, which led the development of this standard, has organized Chinese experts to carry out a series of international blockchain standardization activities.

Among these contributions, the group standard “Blockchain Reference Architecture” was submitted to the technical committee. Furthermore, core content from this group standard contributed to the preliminary study report for the international standard “Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies – Reference architecture.” At the second working meeting of ISO/TC 307 held in November 2017, it was decided that China would serve as the joint editor for the forthcoming international standard “Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies – Reference architecture.” In addition, China will lead the development of another foundational international standard in the blockchain field: “Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies – Taxonomy and Ontology.”

As a key foundational standard in the blockchain field,The objective of the "Reference Architecture for Information Technology—Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology" is to help the industry build consensus on blockchain, providing guidance and reference for the selection, development, and application of blockchain across various sectors. Its content will specify key blockchain terminology, user views, functional views, common concerns, key characteristics, service capability types, deployment models, and other elements, while describing the blockchain industrial ecosystem.。

The “National Plan for the Development of Standardization System Construction (2016–2020)” proposed to cultivate and develop a group of consortium standards with international influence in fields characterized by rapid technological advancement and vibrant market innovation.

The development of the national standard “Information Technology—Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology—Reference Architecture” adopts a model in which group standards are established first, validated and promoted on a small scale, and then converted into national standards with broader applicability once conditions are mature. This approach not only leverages market initiative but also effectively shortens the development cycle for national standards, representing a beneficial practice in building a new standardization system in the emerging field of blockchain technology. Furthermore, the development of this national standard will be aligned with the development of international standards.