Tencent to tap blockchain to set up supply chain finance platform

Tencent Financial Technology will accelerate the application of blockchain to supply chain finance, aiming to establish an open supply chain finance service platform based on blockchain technology, according to the company's top management.

"We want to build WeChain as a supply chain finance service platform based on blockchain technology," said Aaron Cai, general business manager of Tencent Blockchain. "The platform will empower medium and small-sized enterprises, helping them to get out of the financing predicament."

According to Cai, Tencent has already partnered with Linklogis to develop the platform, which enables enterprise clients to operate through mobile devices based on WeChat platform.

Supply chain finance based on blockchain technology could ensure data credibility and enhance privacy protection, thus improving the efficiency of supply chain fund operation and reducing the overall business cost, according to a white paper published by China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

"Different from the traditional supply chain finance, the new platform incorporating blockchain could spread a core enterprise's good credit to each level of the industrial chain, which is extremely beneficial for small and middle-sized enterprises," said Ji Kun, Managing Director of Linklogis.

According to statistics from PwC, China's supply chain finance market will maintain stable growth in the future, projected to see an annual growth rate of 4.5 percent to 5 percent in the next two years, reaching 15 trillion yuan ($2.16 trillion) in 2020.

Fan Hang contributed to this story.