On March 27, the China Shipbuilding Industry Company Limited (CSICL), one of the largest shipbuilding conglomerates in China, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Shanghai Bank to develop and implement supply chain services.
As reported by the official Chinese newspaper People’s Daily, the CSICL collaboration with Shanghai Bank intends to set up a joint venture to develop a blockchain-based China Ship-Shangyin online supply chain financial platform for CSIC’s upstream suppliers.
Blockchain-Based Online Supply Chain Finance Platform
Per the People’s Daily report, the CSIC has long been an important strategic customer of the Bank of Shanghai, as the bank has provided credit service for CSIC Logistics as well as supply chain financing solutions for their upstream suppliers.
Now, with the signing of this strategic blockchain-based supply chain agreement, the scope of the 2 entities collaboration will expand past the traditional credit business. The online supply chain financial platform they are building will service the firm’s 10 major product sections:
- Marine engineering
- Storage batteries
- Shipbuilding
- Turbochargers
- Tobacco machinery
- Diesel engines
- Large steel structure fabrications
- Port machinery
- Gas meters
- Automation distribution systems
Also according to the report, the Shanghai Bank’s agreement with CSIC is a part of the bank’s plan to improve business processes using innovative technologies such as blockchain. This is in fact the Bank’s second development in this area.
In October of last year, Shanghai Bank reportedly launched an online supply chain financial service platform called Uplink e-Chain, which services a variety of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Blockchain Technology in the Supply Chain Industry
If there’s one area besides the finance industry that blockchain technology is poised to change in a big way, it’s the supply chain management industry.
Blockchain tech is making big advancements in this industry, as it has the power to revolutionize the way businesses manage data through collecting, tracking, aggregating, disseminating, and above all ensuring its integrity.
There are already a number of promising blockchain projects trying to revolutionize the supply chain industry, including OriginTrail (TRAC), VeChain (VET), WaltonChain (WTC), Ambrosus (AMB), Tael (WABI), and more.
Also, in addition to the CSIC adopting blockchain-based supply chain management systems, other large and well-established companies are innovating in this area. One such company is the software development company Oracle Corp, who launched a suite of blockchain-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications.
All in all, we can expect to see a lot more companies in the supply chain industry begin to adopt blockchain technology throughout the course of the year and onwards, but it looks like China aims to get a headstart.
Do you think blockchain-based supply chain technology will become mainstream before cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) do? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
