WeBank’s New Brand, WeBank Blockchain, to Promote ESG Strategies

WeBank, the Chinese digital bank, announced its new brand, WeBank Blockchain, which will develop financial infrastructure and blockchain technology to promote environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment strategies, a press release said Wednesday (April 27).

Nanqing Li, WeBank president, said WeBank “has accomplished two interim missions and met their goals to realize a technology that is secure, controllable and open-sourced achieving industrial digitalization.”

WeBank Blockchain will transform the mission “from merely improving efficiency to promoting equity and sustainable development,” he said. “WeBank will leverage its advantages in strategic positioning, agile trial-and-error experimentation, dedication to innovation and explore cutting-edge technologies to promote equity and sustainability with WeBank Blockchain.”

Li added that WeBank Blockchain’s goals include promoting high-quality development, digital economy and carbon neutrality.

The release noted that WeBank has been looking into blockchain to boost efficiency of digital and inclusive finance services. The bank has extended its FinTech capabilities into government affairs, healthcare and agriculture.

WeBank begun with blockchain in 2015, launching Financial Services Blockchain Consortium a year later, the first such consortium in the Chinese finance industry. In 2017 it released its own secure blockchain technology.

The company has also been promoting the use of other technologies related to blockchain, including for industrial digitalization.

PYMNTS wrote that Ant Group’s MYBank is working with China’s development of a digital currency.

Read more: MYBank, Backed By Ant Group, Signs Up For Digital Yuan Test Drives

The report said MYBank will “advance the trial pursuant to the overall arrangement of the People’s Bank of China,” according to a spokesperson.

China’s central bank has been at the forefront of the movement to debut central bank digital currencies, doing numerous tests in various regions.

WeBank was also in on the digital yuan pilot, according to reports.