The Chinese blockchain industry could almost double in size by 2027 to be worth $1.4 billion.

Wu Hai, CEO of the China Internet Investment Fund, made that prediction on Sunday, arguing that the integration with artificial intelligence projects will help the Middle Kingdom’s blockchain sector surge by 71% from its 2024 $816 million high.

While that’s about a tenth of the estimated US blockchain market in in the same year, Wu seemed confident that the sector is about to experience explosive growth.

“Our investment drives are helping the blockchain industry solidify its basic software and hardware foundations,” the CIIF chief told China’s Cailian Press. “We are looking to promote high-quality development.”

The bullishness comes years after Beijing cracked down on the crypto industry and as the US market has been supercharged by President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto policies.

Two-pronged blockchain strategy

Wu said that blockchain investors were following a two-pronged strategy.

The first involves building key infrastructure and application platforms. And a second focuses on integrated application and “value scenarios.”

These scenarios include blockchain adoption drives in the government space, as well as finance, culture, and tourism.

AI-powered technical support service platforms are also set to adopt blockchain technology.

‘Significant results’

Wu said that Chinese blockchain investment, financing, and industrial development have already yielded “significant results in integration and application.”

This was particularly true of the enterprise services and financial services sectors, he said.

And Wu noted that many of China’s blockchain companies were founded between 2017 and 2019, several years before their overseas competitors.

Wu added that last year saw investment flow into Chinese blockchain-powered services, financial companies, and agricultural projects.

But he indicated that over 90% of investors still back early-stage projects.

Xi’s blockchain drive

In 2019, President Xi Jinping called on the public and private sectors to “increase investment and accelerate blockchain development.”

Two years later, top Beijing policymakers included a comprehensive blockchain strategy in the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan.

However, China’s crypto purges have forced most businesses to focus on private blockchain network-powered solutions.

As a result, many of the country’s most prominent blockchain players are most active in sectors like central and local government, as well as administration.

But in recent years, telecom providers have launched blockchain-powered 5G projects.

China’s judiciary uses blockchain for a fast-growing range of purposes, such as storing and verifying electronic evidence.

The CIIF is worth $15 billion. It was co-launched by the Chinese web regulator, the Cyberspace Administration, in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance.

The parties launched the fund in 2017 with the express aim of “supporting investments in the domestic internet industry.”

Tim Alper is a news correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email at talper@dlnews.com.