People’s Insurance Company of China Taps VeChain in Blockchain Pivot
September 1, 2018 by William Peaster
VeChain, a logistics-minded blockchain platform that burst into the cryptoverse last fall, has locked down another major partnership in China, this time with the People’s Insurance Company of China. The deal will see VeChain helping to digitize aspects of PICC’s previously paper-centric operations.
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VeChain Gets the Nod in PICC Deal
VeChain has scored another major partnership, this time with the state-owned People’s Insurance Company of China. Announced today, September 1st, the deal is the second one the blockchain platform has locked down with an entity directly affiliated with the Chinese government in the past year.
The partnership includes PICC and VeChain joining forces with DNV GL, which will “ensure data integrity” for the logistical insurance information that is now set to be logged upon the VeChainThor platform. Such a dynamic will address a common refrain in the space, namely that data on the blockchain is only as good as its provider’s integrity. VeChain had previously first started working closely with DNV GL, a powerhouse Norway-based international accredited registrar, back in January 2018.
The move has been outlined as a pivot into 21st-century digitization, with VeChainThor henceforth providing PICC with a platform to secure its operations beyond paper.
Today’s release explained:
“Insurance companies use legacy claim management systems that produce overwhelming paper trails on insufficiently validated data that make up the current policy underwriting process. The inefficiencies within data collection, verification, and auditing cause policies to be placed on bad actors leading to price increases on the behalf of all policy owners. PICC believes that blockchain technology can bring digital transformation, resulting in reduced turnaround time, premiums, prevent fraud and improve KYC compliance and claim experience. The realization of advanced IoT devices and smart contracts within this industry will potentially bring “instant compensation” for the companies producing a much more profitable business model.”
As such, the team-up is arguably the biggest adoption development in the VeChain ecosystem to date. More state-owned companies in China may follow suit if the VeChain-PICC deal proves ulimately fruitful.
On Heels of VeChain Becoming Blockchain Partner of Gui’an
On December 18th, 2017, the VeChain Foundation announced that VeChain had become the official blockchain partner of the state of Gui’an in China.
The move was reportedly part of the Chinese government’s plans to “spend a tremendous amount of resources into the development of cutting-edge information technology, including […] blockchain technology.”
At the time, the deal was hyped in the highest bureaucratic levels of the Chinese Communist Party, with Chinese Central Government Premier Le Keqiang hailing Gui’an’s techno-progressive pivot as “the hope of West China.”
‘Blockchain, Not Bitcoin’ Seemingly Hits Stride in China
As cryptocurrency exchanges and bitcoin trading itself have been clamped down upon in China over the past year, the government there, which authorizes all state-level activities, hasn’t shied away from blockchain tech in kind.
The permissioned possibilities of VeChain and private chains in general makes these options natural fits under the autocratic purview of the Chinese government. PICC is state-owned, after all.
Consider how ConsenSys was recently tapped to bring Ethereum into the operations of the new Xiong’an government, what’s considered to be a massive and fledgling pet-project of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
What’s your take? Is China beating other nations out when it comes to pure blockchain adoption, for better or for worse? Sound off in the comments below.
Images via Pixabay
