The Two Sessions have officially concluded. Here’s a quick overview of the proposals related to blockchain, the metaverse, and digital renminbi from 20 representatives and committee members

Source: Caixin News | Blockchain Daily

The annual Two Sessions officially concluded today. According to incomplete statistics from Blockchain Daily reporters, this year, 20 representatives from the National People's Congress and members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference submitted proposals related to blockchain, the metaverse, and digital RMB.
This year marks the sixth year that blockchain has been included in the Two Sessions, and the application of blockchain technology in social security systems, legal services, new energy, and data factor markets has become a focus for representatives and committee members.
In addition, representatives and committee members suggested strengthening the regulation of the metaverse while encouraging innovation to promote the healthy development of metaverse-related industries. Regarding digital RMB, they recommended legislation or the introduction of corresponding regulations, as well as enhancing the inclusiveness of digital RMB.
The proposals related to blockchain, the metaverse, and digital RMB from this year's Two Sessions are as follows:

Blockchain: Integration with Various Industries

National People's Congress Representative and Chairman and CEO of Tencent, Ma Huateng: Technology companies should continue to strive in fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, and blockchain, actively promoting the spillover and integration of digital technological achievements into traditional industries.
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Member and Professor and Vice Dean of the Insurance School at the University of International Business and Economics, Sun Jie: Utilize blockchain technology to promote the co-governance and sharing of social security for new employment forms.
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Member and Vice Chairman of the Municipal Political Consultative Conference, Zhang Jinying: Establish a unified legal service blockchain platform with standardized regulatory standards to achieve a new pattern of standardized service processes, public credit, and marketized fees.
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Member and Chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, Zeng Yuqun: Strengthen international cooperation on green power certification, research a green certificate management system suitable for the development of China's battery industry and product demand, and use digital technologies such as blockchain to establish property rights.
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Member and Chairman and CEO of CITIC Capital Holdings Limited, Zhang Yichen: Explore a data transaction valuation system to guide social capital to continue increasing investment in data technology innovation, including privacy computing, federated learning, data encryption, blockchain, and other technologies related to data acquisition, cleaning, desensitization, and aggregation, which have been proposed and started to be practiced in Europe and the United States, and China needs to catch up.
National People's Congress Representative and General Manager of Shanghai Port International Passenger Transport Center Development Co., Ltd., Xu Juehui: Support domestic market entities in building a secure collaboration platform for the port and shipping industry, creating a digital ecological circle for port and shipping using blockchain technology. Focus on important documents, information, and collaboration nodes in the trade chain, logistics chain, and government supervision chain, based on a reliable data governance framework, to achieve data interconnection among industry stakeholders and improve logistics supply chain efficiency.

Metaverse: Strengthening Regulation While Encouraging Innovation

As an important part of future digital technology, the trends of the metaverse concept have always attracted social attention. During this year's Two Sessions, several representatives and committee members submitted proposals related to the metaverse, suggesting that regulation and encouragement of innovation should go hand in hand to seize the opportunities brought by the metaverse.
Central Committee of the China Democratic Promotion Association: Focus on solving technical limitations; optimize and upgrade digital infrastructure, including the foundation of the digital economy involving the metaverse industry; establish a regulatory governance system for metaverse-related fields.
Central Committee of the China Democratic League: Relevant departments should organize experts and scholars to conduct rational knowledge dissemination, popularizing and promoting knowledge, technology, regulations, and risks related to the "metaverse" to enhance public awareness and discernment; organize relevant departments to conduct legislative research on the demands and risks related to the "metaverse" and release it as soon as possible; continue to pay attention to and promote the underlying technologies involved in the "metaverse," such as 5G/6G, big data, AI, blockchain, as well as emerging technologies like satellite internet and integrated networks; led by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Science and Technology, organize enterprises, research institutes, and universities to advance research and development in core components and key software and hardware technologies related to the "metaverse" early to avoid being limited in potential fields, especially through government funding support to guide social capital to focus on R&D in core software and hardware areas.
National People's Congress Representative and Chairman and CEO of Tencent, Ma Huateng: With the rise of new concepts such as the "metaverse," NFTs (non-fungible tokens), and Web3, speculation and avoidance of reality have emerged in certain areas, bringing new risks in finance, technology, and social governance. Ma Huateng proposed that a systematic approach combining "technology - industry - society" should be adopted to solve problems and jointly promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, effectively enhancing national competitiveness.
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Member and Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Economic and Information Commission, Zhang Ying: Form a development direction for the metaverse that "strengthens the real through the virtual," creating an industrial innovation system that empowers various industries; build digital space governance rules with Chinese characteristics that align with global trends to promote the healthy development of metaverse-related industries.
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Member and Chairman of Jiadu Technology Group, Liu Wei: Accelerate the creation of a "Metaverse China" digital economy, continuously enrich and enhance its content, and promote legislation in the virtual digital economy field. Liu Wei suggested quickly organizing demonstrations, coordinating planning, and issuing a top-level design plan for "Metaverse China." Experts from various fields should be organized to fully demonstrate the necessity and feasibility of creating the "metaverse," forming overall guiding principles, clarifying the overall goals and phased objectives, and creating a framework for top-level design planning.
National People's Congress Representative and Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Jiangxi Rural Credit Cooperative Union, Kong Falong: Establish a national-level "metaverse" research and development institution, increase funding, talent, and incentive support, focusing on tackling foundational technologies and key core technologies of the "metaverse," such as chips, blockchain, geographic space, interactive algorithms, perception display, image engines, and 3D environment generation, to provide solid support for promoting the autonomous and controllable development of the "metaverse." Accelerate the research and formulation of a national-level "metaverse" industry development plan, establish industry standards, norms, and systems, and clarify the boundaries, red lines, and prohibited areas of the industry.
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Member and Member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party, Gong Fuwen, proposed four points: 1. Accelerate the construction of new digital infrastructure to lay a solid foundation for the development of the metaverse; 2. Strengthen the tackling of key core technologies to control the lifeline of metaverse safety; 3. Deepen the exploration and application of blockchain to expand the scenarios empowered by the metaverse; 4. Strengthen comprehensive governance of the digital economy to ensure the stable and long-term development of the metaverse.
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Member and Chairman of Artron Art Group, Wan Jie: Regulation should be strengthened, imposing constraints on the development of the metaverse at the technical, legal, and ethical levels, clarifying legal nature, transaction methods, supervisory entities, and supervision methods. In addition, the development of the metaverse may make security risks such as user information theft or misuse more prominent, complex, and hidden, requiring relevant departments to actively conduct risk assessments and further enhance awareness and preventive measures.

Digital RMB: Strengthening Legislation and Inclusiveness

As the pilot program for digital RMB continues to advance in various regions of China, its development serves as an important driver for the growth of the digital economy, providing a strong lever for building a digital economy powerhouse. During the Two Sessions, digital RMB remained a hot topic.
National People's Congress Representative and President of the Nanjing Branch of the People's Bank of China, Guo Xinming: Revise relevant content of the RMB management regulations in conjunction with the progress of the digital RMB research and development pilot, and make corresponding refinements. Based on clarifying the legal tender status of digital RMB, fully consider the acceptance process and technical requirements of digital RMB, and make exceptions or exemptions regarding the legal tender status of digital RMB, as well as specific and clear regulations on the issuance process, anti-money laundering, anti-counterfeiting, personal information protection, and consumer rights protection of digital RMB.
National People's Congress Representative and Vice President and Chief Risk Officer of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Wang Jingwu: Modify the "RMB Management Regulations" to clarify the legal attributes of digital RMB. It is suggested to clarify the legal tender status of digital RMB at the legal and regulatory level, confirming that digital RMB is a form of RMB; at the same time, make exceptions for the use of digital RMB, allowing specific groups to choose to use and accept cash or coins under certain conditions; formulate dedicated regulations or rules for digital RMB, clarifying its operational mechanism.
National People's Congress Representative and Chief Prosecutor of the Chongqing People's Procuratorate, He Hengyang: Further strengthen the criminal legal regulation of legal digital currency, incorporating violations of national regulations, unauthorized issuance of digital currency, forgery or alteration of digital currency, and destruction of digital currency data management systems into criminal legal regulation, and issue specific guiding opinions to ensure safety and stability in the financial sector.
National People's Congress Representative and Full-time Deputy Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Zhigong Party, Shao Zhiqing: Currently, digital RMB only supports debit card binding functions; timely add credit card wallet binding functions; directly add digital RMB payment options in all APP payment links; launch digital RMB deposit, withdrawal, and loan services, promote the interaction between digital RMB and existing electronic payment tools, and pilot the continuous enrichment of application scenarios in areas such as bulk commodity trading, e-commerce, shopping malls, dining, foreign exchange exchange, and cross-border payments to accelerate the comprehensive application of digital RMB.
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Member and Vice President of the Shaanxi Provincial Higher People's Court, Gong Fuwen: Actively open government scenarios to digital RMB pilot institutions, increase policy support for government payment platforms such as social security, housing provident fund, and taxes, and pilot digital RMB in public service windows such as transportation, hospitals, and utilities; organically combine the unique advantages of digital RMB with the high-frequency payment needs of chain supermarkets and living blocks, creating favorable conditions for promoting public frequent contact and understanding of digital RMB and enhancing their willingness to use it; explore hardware wallet scenarios that serve "agriculture, rural areas, and farmers," bridging the "digital divide" for vulnerable groups; in terms of emergency management, explore "dual offline" payment scenarios.
Central Committee of the China Democratic National Construction Association submitted a proposal on "Improving the Digital RMB System": 1. Improve digital currency legislation, severely crack down on crimes committed under the guise of digital currency; 2. Regulate the management system of existing electronic payments; 3. Accelerate the technological innovation of digital currency data storage and establish a data preservation system for digital RMB; 4. Strictly manage dual-layer data to prevent personal data leakage; 5. Develop cross-channel payment for digital RMB, design financial products for digital RMB, and enhance inclusiveness.