Binance to Open Beijing Office Amid China's Renewed Blockchain Push

Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange Binance is opening an office in Beijing, two sources with knowledge of the matter told CoinDesk.

The new outpost will join Binance's current mainland China office in Shanghai.

It's not clear what exactly the office will do or when it will open, but the move follows a slew of announcements from Chinese authorities, including President Xi Jinping outlining China's new blockchain ambitions.

Relations between Binance leadership and Chinese authorities appear to have warmed recently, with the exchange publishing a report on China's plans for a digital fiat currency over the summer and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao stating this week on Twitter that he believes the Chinese central bank is having a positive impact on the crypto industry.

This comes just one year after China's censorship firewall blocked access to the Binance website.

These days, Binance executives have publicly stated the exchange is working with multiple governments on an upcoming stablecoin project called Venus.

Binance co-founder and chief marketing officer Yi He told Bloomberg that Binance will help governments "Fully supervise" the cryptocurrency industry through such projects to ensure "Stable, sustainable development."

Binance made its first investment in a Chinese crypto company, Mars Finance, last September.

Zhao added via Twitter on Tuesday that Binance currently sees a "Few million dollars a day" worth of volume from Chinese users, especially via the peer-to-peer functionality that became available in China earlier this month.

CoinDesk reached out to Binance for comment and will update the article if we hear back.