Binance China’s Presence ‘Grows’ as Unit Joins UN Sustainability Drive

Tim Alper
Last updated: | 2 min read

Multiple Chinese media outlets are reporting that Binance China’s influence is “growing” in the Middle Kingdom after the exchange’s domestic arm joined the United Nations Global Compact sustainability drive.

binance china
Source: Adobe/AlekseyIvanov

The UN drive describes itself as a “non-binding pact to encourage businesses worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation.” Binance China’s Blockchain Research Institute officially became a signatory this week.

The company has been looking to boost its presence in China, where recent reports claim it now has a number of subsidiaries up and running – all ostensibly working on blockchain-reported activities.

Binance is one of the many powerhouse Chinese exchanges forced out of Mainland China by the crypto crackdown of September 2017. However, the company, along with rival Huobi, appears to be on a charm offensive of late as both companies tentatively return to the mainland. So far, they have limited their activities to blockchain-related work.

The institute was launched in China in March this year, per an official announcement.

However, it now looks as though, should Beijing ever choose to lift its block on crypto – whose popularity remains sky-high among the nation’s affluent middle class – these exchange giants would be ready to recapture millions of customers very quickly indeed.

Binance’s latest UN-linked move was spearheaded by the institute’s Executive Dean Helen Hai, the head of Binance’s Blockchain for Charity initiative – and also a United Nations Industrial Development Organization Goodwill Ambassador.

Specifically, the Binance China Blockchain Research Institute’s involvement will be connected with the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative – which has seen China actively invest in some 70+ developing countries, building infrastructure projects and making wider investments.

The program – previously known as the New Silk Road project – has been met with no shortage of skepticism from many Western powers, who fear it could be used as a tool of China’s growing global influence.

Other big-name United Nations Global Compact Chinese signatories include the China Development Bank, oil giant Sinopec and the China State Grid Corporation. BlackBerry, under Chinese ownership since 2016, joined in spring this year.

Per Chainnews, Hai stated,

“Binance has been focusing on using the power of digital technology to help underdeveloped regions improve the efficiency of charitable assistance and medical treatment.”

In May, it was reported that Binance might be preparing to re-enter the Chinese market via “blockchain, not crypto road.”