Geely to build blockchain JV with Swiss foundation

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, the country's largest private carmaker, has inked a deal with Switzerland's Concordium Foundation to offer blockchain technology and service in China.

The foundation is a non-profit organization with the goal to build the world's leading open-source, permission-free, and decentralized blockchain with built-in user identity at the protocol level.

In a statement on Friday, Geely said the two will build a joint venture in China, with Geely holding a majority stake of 80 percent. The joint venture is expected to become operational this year, subject to regulatory approvals.

The joint venture will provide a blockchain and assist customers in building business use-cases and solutions in various industries.

Geely CEO Daniel Donghui Li said: "Being able to leverage Concordium's world-class blockchain technology will set industry standards with its underlying infrastructure for blockchain applications."

Li said Geely has been actively pursuing transformational technologies by building alliances, and synergizing global resources to create greater value for its users.

Lars Seier Christensen, chairman of the Concordium Foundation, said for businesses, blockchain is still a novel technology, ready to be used for business applications.

"We are excited about enabling this possibility. And it's not only for the CTOs to understand; it's for the strategic business developers, for the CFO, and not least for the CEO," said Christensen.

In the statement, the two companies said they will develop this technology further in China and explore pathways to reduce the cost of trust, and provide companies with access to a platform with the tools they need to grow.