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Cryptocurrency Exchange Huobi Creates Communist Party Committee in China

Last Updated March 4, 2021 3:11 PM
Jimmy Aki
Last Updated March 4, 2021 3:11 PM

Huobi Group has created a Communist Party committee, making it the first blockchain based company to do so in China, the South China Morning Post reports .

The committee was created through a Huobi subsidiary called Beijing Lianhuo Information Service, which was registered as a business earlier this year, owned by Li Lin, the founder of Huobi. Lin praised the launch of the committee, referring to it as a milestone for the company, hailing the Communists party for its friendly policies towards the blockchain industry, where Huobi has several businesses operating out of mainland China.

“Under the cordial care of the Party Working Committee of Haidian, the party branch of the Beijing Lianhuo Information Service Ltd. was gloriously established,” Lin added.

A party official from the same district where Huobi’s blockchain operation is based, Cao Zhou warned the new branch on the role it has to play, stating:

“We must enhance the party’s political leadership, and carry out the party’s principles and policies in private enterprises.”

The laws of the Communist Party makes it compulsory for enterprises, particularly the state-owned companies, with at least three Communist Party members as employees, to set up a branch of the Party. While this directive doesn’t extend to private firms, a couple of privately held companies have begun launching party committees in recent times as they seek new ways to form deeper ties with the government. Huobi follows in the footsteps of other private firms that have created a committee, including Tencent and Alibaba Group.

The Chinese government has been friendly to blockchain while holding an anti-crypto stance. The Communist party had put a blanket ban on crypto earlier last year, leading to an exodus of cryptocurrency exchanges to neighboring Asian countries.

Huobi Group’s digital asset platform, of the same name, was one of such firms that fled China before settling into Singapore, where it now operates. The Communist Party also issued warnings to private venues and other relaxation sports in China, advising them not to take on crypto-related events.

Earlier this year, WeChat and Alipay were forced to close the accounts of cryptocurrency based merchants, due to a state order.

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