Alibaba leads China’s drive to secure new blockchain technologies

Alibaba Group Holding has filed more than 10 per cent of the world's patent applications for blockchain in a sign of China's ambitions to dominate the next generation technology in uses beyond cryptocurrencies.

China filed more patent applications than the U.S. last year, with technology companies such as Tencent Holdings and Baidu accounting for 56% of the worldwide total of 406, according to data collated by Thomson Reuters.

Applications from the U.S. came a distant second at 22%. The U.S. still has the largest number of cumulative applications, but on an annual basis, China is in the lead. Chinese companies are keen to exploit blockchain, a rapidly growing technology which ensures that data cannot be altered, for applications such as guaranteeing the origin of brands and products.