China’s State Council, the country’s chief administrative authority, officially approved to set up Hainan free trade zone, the first free trade port among the current 11 free trade zones. The approval has a strong focus on intellectual property trading and protections. On October 8, Hainan free trade zone announced to establish a blockchain pilot zone, China’s first official blockchain pilot zone.
On October 19th, Cyperspace Administration of China published draft regulations for blockchain information providers. The regulations might come into effect before the end of the year. Earlier in August, Chinese authority cracked down several popular blockchain media due to the regulation violation.
On October 19th, ZongAn Technology, China Electronic Standardization Institute, and Fudan University jointly released a whitepaper on the blockchain insurance policy-backed token(PBT). A travel insurance product will be the first to integrate PBT. Also, PWC China is its smart contract auditor.
Recently, Zhiming Zheng said publicly that foreign countries focus on the research and development of blockchain underlying infrastructure, while Chinese companies focus on the development of applications. He sees the development of a Chinese blockchain infrastructure platform as imminent.
5. South Korea’s ICO legality debate continues
South Korea’s Chairman of Finance Service Commission remains skeptical about ICO. He said that the commission had been investigating and monitoring ICO closely. On the other hand, MinByung-Doo, the President of South Korea parliament, stressed that the ICO should be allowed. He thinks that South Korea can not ban ICO at the expense of economic growth. South Korea’s real GDP growth has fallen behind those of U.S., Japan and OECD average in the second quarter of this year.
6. Zebpay, India’s largest exchange, moves to Malta
Zebpay, India's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is now planning to enter the European market. Zebpay has registered two new companies in Singapore and Malta. Zebpay halted its service in September due to India banking ban.
On October 16th, Cagayan Special Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) released that 19 companies have obtained temporary licenses for digital currency exchange. Cagayan Special Economic Zone is a special economic zone and a freeport in northern Luzon, Philippines’ main island. It aims to attract foreign and local investment.
Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) believes that crypto-mining machines have multiple purposes. According to the MoIT, the scope of the impact will be substantial if halting the import of crypto-mining machines.
