The First China Meetup in Changsha
[POPstory 9] We will hold meetups once or twice a month in China.
Changsha, the center of blockchain technology in China
Changsha, in China’s Hunan Province, is a historical city boasting a 3000-year history. It is also the center of Hunan’s commerce, industry, transportation, and culture. It has recently become the center of China’s IT scene as well. The Chinese government included blockchain technology in its ICT innovation plan announced in February 2016, and Changsha is one of the cities carrying out this plan the most faithfully. Last year, Changsha announced a support plan for blockchain companies that move into the Changsha Industrial Complex that would provide them with up to 2 million yuans and a 3 million square meter office.
This is why the POPCHAIN Foundation chose Changsha as the stage for our debut in China. POPCHAIN’s China development team and business strategy team are also based in Changsha. Given this trend, it only made sense for our fourth overseas meetup and the first meetup in China to be in Changsha, at the Days Hotel on Sunday, August 12th. In addition to Chinese blockchain professionals, around 300 local media personnel and investors attended.
First, Director Hansin Kim, who oversees POPCHAIN’s business in China, announced our business roadmap. He briefly summarized what POPCHAIN has been doing for the past year, and explained future business plans such as the mainnet launch before the end of the year. Kim is an expert in business in China, having seven years of experience in the gaming industry in the sinosphere.
POPBOX demonstration
The business roadmap must, of course, be proven through technology, so demonstrating our technology is where we invest the most effort at overseas meetups, which is why Dr. Zheng Yang, who oversees POPCHAIN’s technology development, is participating as a speaker. Dr. Yang demonstrated the POPBOX, which is POPCHAIN’s hardware. He has successfully carried out the first POPBOX demonstration at the meetup in Japan on June 12th.
Dr. Yang didn’t stop there, but revealed an evolved POPBOX that included the new technological developments made by the Chinese development team for the past two months. When he synchronized the POPBOX to the mobile app with a QR code after connecting it to the internet, the audience exclaimed in admiration. Though this was just a demonstration, PCH is actually mined through this same process. After watching this demonstration, Wang Dan, a Chinese investor, said, “I thought that this demonstration showed definite improvements from the POPBOX demonstration in Japan in terms of speed and stability,” and asked, “When will the POPBOX be launched?”
- POPBOX will be launched right after the mainnet by the end of this year.
Announcing Community Strategy
POPCHAIN’s China business strategy team also announced strategies to build a community in China. This requires a different approach from what we’ve been doing in Korea, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, etc. because China is a country with a population of over 1.6 billion people. There are 13 cities with more than 10 million people, and over 30 with more than 8 million. Accordingly, POPCHAIN plans on hosting meetups in different cities. To build the online community, we will expand in an omnidirectional way with Changsha at the center.
So starting in Changsha in August, we will hold meetups in Xiamen and Chongqing in September, Shenzhen and Guangzhou in October, Beijing and Zhengzhou in November, and Shanghai and Hangzhou in December. We plan on hosting meetups once or twice a month in a Chinese metropolis to meet with investors and industry professionals.
Market prospect
As is the case in Korea, huge content distribution companies such as Tencent, Alibaba, and NetEase take up more than half of the whole industry. The market cap of these companies exceeds 600 billion yuans. If blockchain technology is adopted, the massive middlemen fees that these distribution giants were taking will be fairly shared among creators and consumers.
The ecosystem that POPCHAIN is trying to build also touches on this area, and the Chinese government is enthusiastically helping as well. Recently, the Chinese Ministry of Culture has been trying to better protect digital content through initiatives such as the implementation of a new registration system called IPCI, whose purpose is to protect, manage, and supervise intellectual property. Thus far, China has mostly been turning a blind eye to copyright violations, but changed its policy direction as it became a global tech leader, and adopted a strong stance about copyright. This opens up a path for blockchain content platforms like POPCHAIN.
POPCHAIN’s business in China has now started in earnest. A boundless market is open in front of our very eyes. We will not miss this opportunity.
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