As reported by Shenzhen Municipal Taxation Bureau, the average daily issuance of the invoice is estimated to account for 44,000, while the total value of the invoices has amounted to 3.9 billion Chinese yuan ($553 million).
Major Chinese city Shenzhen has issued nearly six million blockchain-based invoices in a year since their inception in Aug. 2018.
Shenzhen, a city in Guangdong province and the first economic special zone in China, piloted its first blockchain-powered invoice on Aug. 10, 2018, when the invoice was issued by a local Shenzhen restaurant.
As previously reported, Shenzhen’s blockchain invoice system was developed by Chinese internet giant Tencent – the developer of the social media platform WeChat – together with the tax bureau of Shenzhen.
Shenzhen processed around $550 million through blockchain invoices in a year
According to a report by state news agency Xinhua on Aug. 6, more than 5,300 local companies in 113 sectors have joined Guangzhou’s blockchain invoice program so far.
First blockchain invoice issued by a local restaurant in Aug. 2018
Since the project was launched, the use of blockchain-based invoices has been gaining momentum in a number of industries in Shenzhen, including finance, retailing, catering and hospitality, the new report says. In March 2019, local media reported that Shenzhen issued the country’s first blockchain invoice for a subway ticket.
Recently, Cointelegraph reported on London-based bank Standard Chartered completing its first blockchain-based supply chain financing transaction within Digital Guangdong project, which is a joint initiative between Tencent, China Unicom, China Telecom and China Mobile.
Seoul to Release Native City-Wide Crypto as Part of Smart City Development
In a bid to transform into a blockchain smart city, Seoul, South Korea is planning to launch its own digital currency by November 2019.
To facilitate engagement in the city’s governance
As Australian finance-focused media outlet Finder reported on Aug. 7, the South Korean capital is looking to release a native city-wide digital currency dubbed S-coin, the objective of which will be to encourage citizens to participate in governance, facilitate cooperation between citizens and collect information.
People will receive S-coins when using public services or fulfill their citizenship obligations such as paying taxes and participating in public surveys. S-coin is set to be programmed by the government, enabling authorities to decide in exact detail when it can and can not be spent, as well as in what quantities and frequencies.
One of the S-coin use cases enables parents to give it to their children as rewards, while programming the coin to be redeemable for specific treats at certain stores and to be spent exclusively by children. The government purportedly expects that S-coin will serve as an instrument of influence on people’s behavior and developing a smart city.
Recently, South Korea’s second most-populous city after Seoul, Busan, decided to launch a local cryptocurrency. By issuing a local digital currency, the city expects to revive the local economy, as well as to secure a leading position in blockchain development.
Blockchain is a “question of survival”
In late July, South Korea’s President Moon Jae-In stated that regulatory innovation regarding blockchain technology is now a question of survival. Moon said:
«While regulatory innovation in the era of industrialization was a matter of choice, it is now a question of survival as we are experiencing the fourth industrial revolution, characterized by fusions across industries and fields.”
Moon added that creating real use cases for blockchain to protect personal data contributes to a greater international presence for South Korea, while blockchain applications in finance will greatly contribute to the revitalization of the country’s economy.