Following the pace set by other major provinces in the country, China’s Hebei province has launched its own plan to grow and nurture blockchain industry in the region. Announced earlier today, the plan titled the “Hebei Province Blockchain Special Action Plan (2020-2022) was set up by the information technology office of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee Network.

According to a report from Shanghai Securities News, the province laid out the plan in order to accelerate the development of blockchain technology and industrial innovation. The provincial government also wants to achieve “deep integration” of blockchain technology and the broader economy and society. 

The first step of the plan is to strengthen the theoretical and technology research into blockchain technology—according to the plan, this will promote a rapid, healthy, and orderly development of the industry. 

When it comes to the practical goals of the plan, Hebei’s provincial government said that it wants to facilitate the creation of 20 “leading” companies in the blockchain industry by the end of 2022. Aside from that, the plan also stated that the province also wanted to cultivate “a batch” of blockchain-related application products in the next two years.

If Hebei’s manages to fulfill its goal, there should be between one and three nationally known blockchain brands that have originated from the province by 2022. 

By creating a fertile ground both for blockchain development and the deployment of blockchain-based products and services, Hebei wants to bring together the best minds in the industry. The provincial government also announced its plan to establish partnerships with companies and investors from outside Hebei. This will expand the region’s impact on technology in China and overseas and allow it to participate in the creation of a blockchain technology innovation alliance.

This alliance will have its hands full, at least according to the two-year plan. The government said that it planned on building three blockchain parks, but no further information about their respective locations was revealed in local reports. 

It’s important to note that Hebei’s plan isn’t all abstract—the northwestern province’s government promised to take concrete steps to support businesses that want to tailgate the plan. The local government institutions will spend the next two years implementing various pro-business and pro-blockchain policies that will benefit both small and large companies operating in the blockchain industry. Aside from that, financial support in the form of loans and other types of financing will also be provided to companies that take on blockchain development in the next two years. 

Hebei’s action plan, while introducing several steps and plans specific to the region, mirrors the plans laid out by other regions in China. The governments of Beijing, Suzhou, Guizhou, and Fuzhou have all laid out their own plans for bolstering the blockchain industry in their respective regions. They include creating a regional blockchain payments platform, establishing a blockchain demonstration zone, and developing a city-wide blockchain infrastructure.