Chinese companies will create a digital platform aimed at accelerating the flow of data on freight and shipping. China's state-owned container line Cosco Shipping Holdings Ltd. will work with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Ant Financial Group, the e-commerce giant's financial technology subsidiary, on the use of blockchain technology to track goods across maritime supply chains.
All the advantages of the Blockchain applied to maritime transport
Under the agreement announced at the end of Monday July 6, the companies will collaborate on the initiative, the latest in a series of agreements in the shipping sector aimed at connecting goods owners, ship operators, ports and companies. logistics through digital platforms that use blockchain technology.
Blockchain allows a group of trusted participants to share information as the goods move through the supply chains. The system promises to reduce the costs of managing the shipped goods, reduce bureaucracy and accelerate the flow of goods by allowing companies to transmit information quickly and reliably.
Several international companies join the pact with Blockchain
Ant Financial Services operates the largest business-oriented blockchain platform in China, processing payments and other services for a billion users per day. "We are looking forward to supporting the digital transformation of the global maritime sector and collaborating with Cosco Shipping to make global trade easier and more efficient," said Eric Jing, executive president of Ant Financial Group.
Alibaba signed a similar agreement in May with the China Merchants Holdings naval group to create a digital platform for port operations. The Danish AP Moller-Maersk A / S, which manages the Maersk Line giant for the transport of containers, and the International Business Machines Corp. in 2016 introduced a blockchain platform for container ships called TradeLens, to which other major operators such as the Mediterranean Shipping Co., based in Switzerland, the French CMA CGM SA and the German Hapag-Lloyd AG have joined since then.
So far it is not clear whether significant flows of goods have been handled on the platform. TradeLens participants said that use of the blockchain platform declined during the coronavirus pandemic because global trade flows declined dramatically while shipping lines reduced port calls by hundreds of units, effectively scaling and simplifying many supply chains .
Big companies like Walmart Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co., along with hundreds of ports, have tested the technology to get a better view of their supply chains, from raw materials to finished products. Alibaba has a market capitalization of $ 634,49 billion. At the time of this writing, the Alibaba shares (BABA) are priced at USD 257,68 at the NYSE market.
