China’s Dalian Wanda Taps Blockchain to Connect Consumers and Retailers

Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda is looking to connect consumers and retailers, and according to China Money Network, it’s looking at the blockchain to accomplish that:

Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda’s tech arm Wanda Internet Technology Group has formed strategic alliance with Centrality, an Auckland-based blockchain firm to develop an “ecosystem” that connects consumers and retailers, and serves Wanda Group’s enterprise merchants.

The aim of the collaboration is to build scalable and secure blockchain applications that work in the real world, the companies said. The alliance will also a focus on identifying blockchain-focused businesses with global growth potential and adding them to an incubator and investment program, according to Centrality’s announcement. London-based blockchain specialists Qadre, and Switzerland-based blockchain entertainment ecosystem, SingularDTV ar also involved in the project.

This isn’t the first time Dalian Wanda dipped into blockchain development: back in 2016, the company joined the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger project, becoming the only board member from the Middle Kingdom. It also announced a blockchain platform – called Polaris – for smart supply chains, pharmaceutical management, finance, and invoicing early last year.

Wanda was reportedly “impressed” by Centrality’s library of components and the potential mass adoption of its high-performance cross-chain platform and ecosystem, called PL^G. As for Centrality itself, it seems to be stoked to be working with Wanda on this venture. Centrality CEO, Aaron McDonald, had this to say:

“Our businesses are completely aligned on the opportunities for blockchain and believe that working together we can push for the adoption of blockchain within the government, industrial and consumer sectors.”

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