Key Takeaways
- Apart from NFT’s, the platform will also facilitate trading copyrights related to digital assets.
- In December, a Chinese court ruled that non-fungible tokens are considered virtual property and are protected by Chinese law.
NFTs have long piqued the interest of Chinese monetary bodies. Now, China is all set to launch its first regulated platform for non-fungible tokens (NFT) trading on January 1, 2023. Apart from NFTs, the platform will also facilitate the trading of copyrights related to digital assets.
Reportedly, the China Digital Asset Trading Platform” comes as a result of collaboration between China Technology Exchange, China Cultural Relics Exchange Center, and Huaban Digital Copyright Service Center Co., Limited.
Commenting on the latest development, Yu Jianing, co-chairman of the China Communications Industry Association Blockchain Special Committee, stated the launch of the China Digital Assets Exchange represents the acceleration of the digital transformation process of China’s cultural industry and the pace of promoting data capitalization and asset digitization is getting faster and closer.
Yu further added that the current development of digital assets in China mainly faces many hurdles, such as technical limitations, collection value, and copyright disputes. Earlier this month, A court in Hangzhou, China, ruled that non-fungible tokens are considered virtual property and protected by Chinese law.
According to the court, NFT collections have the characteristics of property rights such as scarcity, controllability, value, and readability while also possessing “unique attributes of virtual network property.”
In April this year, the Hangzhou Internet Court rendered an NFT infringement judgment in a case between Shenzhen Qice Diechu Cultural and Creative Co, Ltd and Hangzhou Yuanyuzhou Technology Co, Ltd (Yuanyuzhou). This case was widely regarded as the pioneer NFT case in China, providing judicial insight into NFT transactions and the protection of information network transmission rights.
The court then clarified that NFT marketplaces are a new business model because they are associated with the blockchain and smart contracts. According to recent reports, the NFT industry in China is forecast to grow by about 70% on an annual basis to reach over $4.8 billion in 2022, with a combined annual growth rate of almost 50% through to 2028.
