Cloud Giant Xunlei gains blockchain momentum in China

Chinese cloud service provider Xunlei is putting its weight behind blockchain in recent years. The move makes sense — China is ratcheting upits adoption of blockchain to help industries and society to benefit from this emerging technology.The ultimate blockchain winners likely won’t be determined for quite some time. However, Xunlei’s blockchain efforts seem to be gaining momentum especially through the recent recognition from Chinese authorities and frequent appearance at national and international forums. .

Back in April, Xunlei CEO Chen Lei was participating in a panel on the future of blockchain at Boao Forum for Asia where Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an opening speech. The discussion was moderated by Deloitte Partner Jennifer Qin and joined byLi Lihui,leader of Block Chain Research Working Group at National Internet Finance Association of China (NIFA), Prof. Finance Sheng Songcheng, Counselor to People’s Bank of China, Samsung SDS President & CEO Hong Won-Pyo and Visa Chief Risk Officer Ellen Richey.

Just last month, the giant tech also marked its presence at the China International Big Data Expo. Xunlei joined other panelists of blockchain industry leaders, including author of “Blockchain Revolution” Don Tapscott, Deputy Mayor of Guiyang Xu Hao, China Academy of Information and Communications Technology vice head Wang Zhiqin and Prof. Shoucheng Zhang from Stanford University. The panel was recorded by China Central Television (CCTV), the country’s government mouthpiece and featured in a segment called “Dialogue,” airedon June 3rd. The hour-long program is dedicated to educating its wide audience-base on the concept, potential and risks of blockchain technology.

Xunlei’s recent involvement in blockchain is not to be sniffed at, and has caught the attention of many collaborators in its native country.

The Investment Association of China (IAC) has appointed Xunlei as an executive council member in a bid to support blockchain development efforts in the country.Since it was founded in 2001, the IAC reports directly to China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the major government agency in charge of economic and investment reform in the country.The company is tasked with ensuring that China remains ahead of the curve and to provide ideas and guidance on how blockchain can benefit market participants, and ultimately contribute to real economy.

Other recent achievements also suggest that Xunlei is viewed as the far-and-away leader when it comes to blockchain. Last month, the company’s cloud computing business model for sharing economy was cited by the 2018 White Paper on China’s Blockchain Industry as an endeavor to verify financial transactions, lower bandwidth cost through disruptive innovation, reduce carbon footprint and boost climate action.The White Paper unveiled by the Information Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China is a comprehensive and authoritative source of the analysis of macro policies, multiple industries and select companies with blockchain applications in China. The report highlights the role of Xunlei’s shared computing model as one of the mainstream blockchain infrastructure that drives transformation across industries by streamlining business processes, reducing or eliminating operating costs, and more importantly, saving energy and reducing carbon footprint.

China has gradually emerged as a central hub of blockchain revolution in recent years thanks to its Blockchain-based policies and forward-oriented economic outlook. Through its revolutionary open Blockchain platform dubbed “ThunderChain” that can handle millions of transactions per second, along with its intelligent cloud services, Xunlei is positioning itself to be at the forefront of the practical development of blockchain technology.