Ant Financial CEO: Blockchain's real value in commercial applications

The bubble in blockchain technology will burst within a year, with its real value starting to take root in commercial applications, said Jing Xiandong, CEO of Ant Financial, the affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

"Though today we have not seen any valuable application scenarios for the cutting-edge technology, I believe in two to three years, its true value will be pronounced in large-scale use," Jing said at the China Development Forum on Saturday.

According to him, decentralization is not the core of blockchain. Instead, it is a multilateral trust mechanism that defines the technology.

"We have filed one of the largest numbers of blockchain-related patent applications. And we are working hard to overcome the technological barriers to bring it to widespread use," Jing said.

The move came as finance is widely seen as a sector where blockchain can play an important role. Ant Financial runs Alipay, the largest mobile payment platform in China.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's top industry regulator, said earlier this month that it had discussed plans to build a blockchain technical standardization committee to promote its use in different sectors.