Ma Xiaofeng, Dean of the Blockchain Research Institute of Tongji University: First solve the "cross-chain" and privacy protection issues

Editor's note: In 2020, financial technology will move from strategy to implementation. As we all know, in 2019, the central bank officially released the three-year development plan of financial technology. This is the first time that my country's financial regulatory agencies have systematically summarized and discussed financial technology, and it is a milestone in the development of financial technology. More than half of the time, how effective is the financial technology development plan? How will the emerging participants on the track ride the wind and waves? The reporter of "International Finance News" invited a number of industry researchers, thinkers and practitioners to discuss the role of financial technology in promoting regional economic integration, helping small and micro enterprises to finance, digitally transforming the financial industry, and breaking the financing difficulties of agricultural enterprises. role, as well as the challenges and follow-up development paths faced by the application of financial technology. Since last year's Politburo meeting adopted "blockchain" as a national strategy, various ministries and commissions have made great efforts to promote the development of blockchain technology and industrial innovation: the People's Bank of China issued technical specifications for financial distributed ledgers and launched a "regulatory sandbox" pilot; the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology guided , Build the blockchain industry and vigorously build blockchain infrastructure; the China Securities Regulatory Commission conducts pilot projects for blockchain construction through the regional equity market; the National Development and Reform Commission incorporates blockchain into the category of "new infrastructure"; the Ministry of Science and Technology increases blockchain Technology research and development... The national strategy of "block chain" is in full swing, but there are still many "stuck" factors in the large-scale application. How to improve the original innovation ability and promote the development of the block chain industry has become the current hot topic. In this regard, a reporter from "International Finance News" recently interviewed Ma Xiaofeng, deputy director of the Blockchain Branch of the Chinese Institute of Electronics, director of the Shanghai Blockchain Technology Research Center, and director of the Blockchain Research Institute of Tongji University. Tongji Blockchain Research Institute signed a contract with Shanghai Equity Custody Trading Center: After Tongji Blockchain Research Institute successfully won the bid for the blockchain pilot project of Shanghai Equity Custody Trading Center, the two parties formally signed a cooperation agreement yesterday. The Tongji Blockchain Research Institute, which won the bid this time, will use the self-developed blockchain infrastructure "Wutong Chain" as the core underlying platform of the blockchain system of the Shanghai Equity Trusteeship Trading Center to provide technical support for the system. (Kechuangban Daily) [2020/8/7] According to Ma Xiaofeng, the country attaches great importance to the original innovation of blockchain technology, and all ministries and commissions are actively promoting the deployment of blockchain. In the foundation stage, computing power (TPS) is not the main factor restricting the application of blockchain technology. He believes that the large-scale application of blockchain technology requires "cross-chain" and more efficient privacy protection algorithms. In addition, blockchain technology innovation must be rooted in the market, iteratively improve in market applications, and build more open source blockchain communities. In fact, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the "White Paper on China's Blockchain Technology and Application Development" in 2016, which proposed the general technical requirements of the blockchain composed of seven main technical features and the typical blockchain technology architecture, and analyzed the consensus mechanism. , data storage, network protocols, encryption algorithms, privacy protection and smart contracts and other core key technologies, as well as blockchain governance and security issues, initially clarified 21 key directions of standardization and standardization plans for a period of time in the future. In January 2019, the State Cyberspace Administration issued the "Regulations on the Management of Blockchain Information Services", and then announced the first batch of 197 blockchain information service filing lists. In the study meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held in October of that year, it was required to take the blockchain as an important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies, clarify the main direction of attack, increase investment, focus on overcoming a number of key core technologies, and accelerate the promotion of blockchain technology and industry. Innovate and develop, and strive to make our country at the forefront of theory in the emerging field of blockchain, occupy the commanding heights of innovation, and gain new advantages in the industry. Zhou Xianghong of Tongji University: With the support of blockchain technology, data can become a core factor of production and be added to economic activities: On May 29, Zhou Xianghong, a professor at the School of Economics and Management of Tongji University, said that data scale, data processing capabilities, and data governance systems It is becoming the commanding heights of international competition. To measure the level of industrial structure modernization, it is mainly based on the improvement of marginal efficiency and total factor productivity brought about by the input of data elements. Only when data is collected, transmitted, stored, processed and applied, can it become a factor of production. With the support of blockchain technology, data can become a core factor of production and be added to economic activities. (Panorama Network) [2020/5/29] After the Politburo meeting set the tone, various ministries and commissions began to focus on promoting the implementation of blockchain industry standards and technologies. The People's Bank of China officially released the "Financial Distributed Ledger Technology Security Specification" in February this year, which stipulates the security system of financial distributed ledger technology, including basic hardware, basic software, cryptographic algorithms, node communication, ledger data, consensus protocols, smart Contracts, identity management, privacy protection, regulatory support, operation and maintenance requirements, and governance mechanisms. On April 13 this year, the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology disclosed the list of members of the first National Blockchain and Distributed Accounting Technology Standardization Technical Committee. The National Blockchain and Distributed Accounting Technology Standardization Technical Committee was established in March 2018 by the Department of Information and Software Services of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Develop key technical standards and promote international standardization in a timely manner. News | Suzhou launches online mask reservations Suzhou Tongji Blockchain Research Institute provides technical support: It is reported that the two rounds of mask online reservation registrations currently being carried out in Suzhou City, and their lottery notarization systems are all developed by Suzhou Tongji Blockchain Research Institute. At the beginning of February, the members of the R&D team of the "Number Lottery Notarization System" of the Suzhou Tongji Blockchain Research Institute, which resumed work ahead of schedule, received the unified deployment of the Suzhou New Coronavirus-infected Pneumonia Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters, and developed a set of line in the shortest possible time. A random lottery lottery notarization system for online purchase of mask appointment registration, and can be used for simultaneous lottery of more than 500,000 samples. As the research and development subject of the first independent, safe and controllable blockchain underlying platform "Wutong Chain" that passed the evaluation of the National Financial Engineering Laboratory in China, the Suzhou Tongji Blockchain Research Institute was jointly established by Suzhou High-speed Railway New City and Tongji University. , Provided key technical support for the Suzhou "mask lottery notarization" work. [2020/2/25] Also in April, the National Development and Reform Commission clarified the scope of new infrastructure, including communication network infrastructure represented by 5G, Internet of Things, Industrial Internet, and Satellite Internet, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, block The new technology infrastructure represented by chain, etc., and the computing power infrastructure represented by data center and intelligent computing center. According to Ma Xiaofeng, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology promotes the development of blockchain technology from the perspective of technology and industry; the central bank and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission start with financial scenarios to explore "regulatory sandboxes"; the Cyberspace Administration of China implements a filing system to ensure the security of blockchain information. Voice | Xu Tao, Tongji University: Learning and certification can be conducted through the blockchain technology platform: According to Guangming.com, Xu Tao, an associate professor at Tongji University’s School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, said that for those individuals who cannot complete traditional school education due to work or other reasons For those who are interested, through the blockchain technology platform, credits or learning results from different educational institutions can be bound and combined together, apply for certification by educational institutions that recognize this learning model, and obtain corresponding graduation or degree certificates. At present, the British Open University has actively practiced this new learning model based on blockchain technology. In addition, the "Knowledge and Media Research Center" of the Open University in the United Kingdom has developed an innovative technology that combines "micro-credentials", that is, badges, to adapt to learning and certification based on blockchain technology platforms. [2018/11/12] Since the second half of this year, various ministries and commissions have stepped up the construction of multiple blockchains. In July, the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the "Letter on the Principles of Approving 5 Regional Equity Markets in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shenzhen to Develop Blockchain Construction", which is an innovative construction implemented in the basic aspects of blockchain in the securities industry. . Shanghai Stock Exchange Center and Tongji Blockchain Research Institute jointly promote the pilot work. On September 29, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Center announced that the blockchain project has made significant progress. It has been able to realize all business data on the chain, and successfully achieved cross-chain connection with the blockchain supervised by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The deep integration of technology and finance such as blockchain and artificial intelligence has spawned many new financial technology products, new services, and new formats. However, the rapid development and cross-border application of financial technology has brought huge hidden risks to the financial market. Financial technology has led to the continuous emergence of cross-border cross-cutting new products, and the direct connection and penetration of different businesses. The risk is more contagious, spreads faster, and affects a wider area. Once it breaks out, it may cause systemic financial risks. In December 2019, under the guidance of the People's Bank of China, Beijing took the lead in launching a pilot program of fintech innovation supervision in China. Under the leadership of Chai Hongfeng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, China UnionPay, Tongji University, Fudan University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences jointly developed the infrastructure of "intelligent financial technology innovation supervision tools based on blockchain", aiming to use blockchain, public opinion big data, Technologies such as knowledge graphs create a common infrastructure for regulatory tools and escort the innovation and development of my country's financial technology. At present, it has been tested in UnionPay's "Mobile POS Innovative Application" and achieved good results. Voice | Xu Tao, Tongji University: The development and application of blockchain in education still faces many difficulties and challenges: According to the news from Guangming Daily, "Guangming Daily" published an article listing the views of various experts and scholars on "blockchain + education", Xu Tao, an associate professor at the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Tongji University, said frankly that the development and application of blockchain technology has created a new technical basis and practice model for education and teaching reform, but its development and application in education still face many difficulties and challenges. Blockchain technology infrastructure and platform construction, maintenance and management, the complexity of blockchain technology itself, and the application, ownership and privacy protection of student learning data and many other issues. [2018/11/12] In addition, the China Academy of Information and Communications, a scientific research institution directly under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, launched a new infrastructure for national blockchain and industrial Internet collaboration on August 30 - "Spark Chain Network", and the first super node landed in Chongqing . It is reported that "Xinghuo Chain Network" adopts the self-developed licensed public blockchain technology, which is not only compatible with the characteristics of open access, flexibility, and scalability of public blockchains, but also integrates the alliance blockchain for easy supervision, high performance, and security. A blockchain technology system with controllable and other characteristics. It is divided into two layers. The upper layer is the main chain composed of super nodes, which is used to manage identification, public data or other legal assets provided by the country in the future, as well as the implementation of regulatory rules. The lower layer is the existing various types of blockchain applications connected through backbone nodes, which can obtain identification and data from the main chain. In Ma Xiaofeng's view, blockchain nodes are scalable, and the transaction volume per second is no longer the main factor restricting the large-scale application of blockchain technology. "Currently, blockchain computing power can meet most application scenarios. Industrial-level blockchains with high power requirements can increase computing power and nodes by going to the cloud and virtualizing nodes." Judging from the extensive application practice of Tongji Research Institute, Ma Xiaofeng believes that the inability to "cross-chain" and the lack of efficient "privacy protection algorithms" are the main constraints currently restricting the large-scale application of blockchain technology. Tongji Blockchain Research Institute has joined forces with Suzhou Enterprise Credit Information, the People's Bank of China Suzhou Central Branch, Bank of Suzhou and other Yangtze River Delta institutions to create a blockchain-based Yangtze River Delta Credit Information Chain application platform. This is a relatively large-scale innovative application demonstration involving "cross-chain" and "privacy protection" technology and engineering breakthroughs in the blockchain industry. The Yangtze River Delta Credit Reference Chain builds a credit reference chain application platform based on blockchain and other technologies. Enterprise credit reference agencies store credit data, authorization information, and query records on the chain to realize cross-regional and cross-system information sharing and services for credit reference agencies. Collaborate, break the island of data, and realize the interconnection and intercommunication of enterprise credit report information (such as enterprise basic information, business information, litigation information, etc.) among institutions. Ma Xiaofeng said, "In the Yangtze River Delta regions such as Shanghai and Suzhou, social credit and financial credit are connected through the credit chain. However, Shanghai has Shanghai's credit system, Suzhou has Suzhou's credit system, and blockchain technology must be used nationwide. In order to achieve large-scale application within the blockchain, we must first solve the 'cross-chain' links between different regions." In addition, Ma Xiaofeng pointed out that the asymmetric encryption of the blockchain requires more complex privacy protection algorithms. The common problem of the existing complex privacy protection algorithms is that the amount of engineering is large, time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it is difficult to reach the commercial level. "We are now doing research on different scenarios. For example, in financial scenarios, we optimize the general privacy algorithm while ensuring information security, so as to improve the effectiveness of the algorithm, so as to meet the requirements of fast and safe commercial use." To seize the blockchain highlands requires continuous technological innovation. According to Ma Xiaofeng, Tongji University started financial technology and blockchain research and development in 2013, and independently developed the blockchain underlying technology platform "Wutong Chain" in 2017. In 2017, it jointly established a blockchain industry-university-research innovation platform with Suzhou City. , In 2018, with the support of the Shanghai Economic and Information Commission, the Shanghai Blockchain Industry-University-Research Collaborative Innovation Platform was established. According to reports, Wutong Chain is the underlying platform of the enterprise-level blockchain alliance chain, with native national secret algorithm support, native support for UTXO, suitable for asset digitization scenarios, high-performance smart contract engine, compatible with Docker-based smart contracts, and perfect authority security control , convenient application development support, optimization based on application scenarios, and perfect technical support. After years of R&D and application iterative development, the underlying technology of Wutong Chain is now widely used in many fields such as supply chain management, banking, insurance, shipping logistics, customs, justice, government management, and art transactions. As of July this year, it has accumulatively served more than 1,500 small and medium-sized enterprises, with a financing amount of more than 50 billion yuan, realizing 8-level capital supply chain circulation. "In layman's terms, blockchain is a nest. Blockchain technology innovation must be rooted in the market, and iteratively improved in market applications. There are a wide range of application scenarios in my country's social governance, industry, finance, people's livelihood management, and government affairs. Among them, the "certificate storage" that solves the problem of multi-party cooperation and trust is equivalent to the portal website when the Internet emerged, and it will be the most basic and extensive application of blockchain technology." Ma Xiaofeng said. After years of practice, Ma Xiaofeng pointed out that with the rapid iteration of blockchain technology, the traditional model of scientific research led by universities and several large companies must be changed. There are relatively few influential blockchain open source communities in my country. The blockchain comes from the community. More enterprises are on the chain, and wider participation is more valuable. In fact, China is also trying to build a "blockchain open source community". On October 15th, the "'With You and Me Open Source Festival' Open Source Technology Seminar and Shenzhen International Open Source Valley Opening Ceremony" held by the Open Atom Open Source Foundation kicked off. On the first day of the forum, the inaugural meeting of the blockchain working group of the Open Atom Open Source Foundation with the theme of "Open Source, Open Linking the Future" was held, announcing the establishment of the first blockchain open source working group in China.

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