Since its creation 13 years ago, blockchain technology has increasingly gained in popularity, although there is still a lot of misunderstanding around it. It was originally invented to serve as a public transaction ledger for the bitcoin cryptocurrency and has now become a real game changer, as its decentralized structure removes the need for trusted third parties.
China is the country with the largest number of blockchain patents in the world today and blockchain technologies are expected to grow even more, since President Xi Jinping has endorsed its further development at the end of 2019. But what exactly is blockchain, and what are the actual implications for European SMEs? Where does China stand and what is China using the technology for?
You can find the recorded workshop on Youtube:
About the speakers
Renzo Isler
Director @EU SME Centre
Renzo studied economics and started as young trainee working for the Generali Group (one of the largest European financial enterprises). Over the years he scaled up the ranks while taking different overseas assignments, both managerial as well as supervising. In early 2005 he was assigned, as Chief Executive Officer, to Generali China Life (GCL), a JV with China National Petroleum Corp., one of the largest State-owned enterprises in China, and he remained at the helm of GCL for 11 years. Afterwards he retained the title of Senior Consultant for China within Generali, sharing his expertise of the market gained in 15 years of his living in China. From 1st October 2020, Renzo is the Director of the EU SME Centre in Beijing. In this new role, he aims to contribute to the growth of the investments in China by European SMEs.
Brian Bian
Managing Director @Bravowhale Technology, North America
Brian was born and raised in Beijing China, went to study in the US and finished his bachelor degree in business with focus in finance from the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California in the 90s. He has over 20 years of experience in finance and technology industries in US and China by working at established financial institutions, such as ING America in US and China International Capital Corp. (CICC) in China, as well as venturing with startup telecom company in California and dynamic Fintech company in Shanghai. In recent years, Brian has been doing independent research and work mainly in the area of Fintech with focus on business applications of blockchain technology integrating asset digitization and alternative financing for SMEs, while collaborating with various companies in North America (US/Canada), Europe/Italy and China.
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