BEIJING -- China on Saturday launched the commercial use of a blockchain-based service network (BSN) as the country strives to promote the development of blockchain technology and explore innovations in the digital economy, according to the State Information Center (SIC).

The BSN was designed as a global public infrastructure network, aiming at consistently reducing blockchain applications' costs in development, deployment, operation and maintenance, interoperability and regulation.

With beta tests starting in October last year, the network has acquired stable functions and played an active role in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic, said Liu Yunan, head of the SIC.

Liu also noted that the network has covered a batch of innovative applications, such as charity, item traceability, electronic invoice, copyright protection and supply chain management.

The network has set up 128 public city nodes, including eight overseas and included major mainstream cloud service providers, said Shan Zhiguang with the SIC.

More measures will be taken to enhance technological innovation and performance optimization of the BSN to lay a solid foundation for the development of smart cities and digital economy, Shan added.