China urges blockchain tax data sharing to expand SME credit

China’s tax and financial regulators urged banks to modernise “bank–tax interaction” by using blockchain-based tax data sharing. In a joint policy notice, the State Administration of Taxation and the National Financial Regulatory Administration asked institutions to standardise how tax data is exchanged to reduce information asymmetry between tax authorities, banks and enterprises. The regulators also called for better credit models, faster approval and expanded financing supply for “honest, tax-paying enterprises.” This aligns with a National Development and Reform Commission roadmap to integrate blockchain into national data infrastructure, targeting nationwide rollout by 2029 and estimating roughly 400 billion yuan (about $58 billion) in annual investment opportunities. For crypto traders, the key takeaway is that blockchain tax data sharing is policy-driven for regulated finance, not a crypto liberalisation signal. China remains restrictive: a 2021 nationwide ban covers crypto transactions and mining. More recently, regulators expanded the framework to stablecoins and tokenised real-world assets, requiring prior approval for RMB-pegged stablecoin issuance and warning that unlicensed tokenisation could be treated as illegal financial operations. Overall, this is more supportive of the blockchain-in-regulated-finance narrative than of any immediate price upside for crypto assets.