ZhongAn Insurance and Fudan University will jointly establish a "Blockchain and Information Security Laboratory" to develop an open source blockchain insurance platform

China’s first online insurance company ZhongAn Insurance has officially announced the establishment of ZhongAn Information Services Co., Ltd. The newly created company will work with ZhongAn Insurance and its external partners to research and develop artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud technology and data-driven technologies.

China's first online insurance company launched the "ABCD Plan"

ZhongAn Online Property Accident Insurance is China's first online insurance company established by Ant Financial, Tencent and Ping An in 2013. It now has more than 460 million customers and 580 million insurance policies. In the summer of 2015, the company raised 578 million yuan (931.3 million U.S. dollars) in funding.

The company is now focusing on developing its "ABCD Plan", which aims to control the use of artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud management and data-driven clients. Soon, ZhongAn Technology will launch its services using the blockchain cloud platform.

“With the birth of ZhongAn Technology, we are developing a new fintech ecosystem that integrates technology research with financial innovation,” said Jiang Xing, ZhongAn’s CTO and chairman. “We aim to become a driver of both financial and healthcare modules.”

ZhongAn CEO Chen Jin said that as a company built on the Internet, ZhongAn has built its own ecosystem tailored for its customers. So far, ZhongAn has built two pillars on its customer base: connectors and stabilizers. Now, Chen Jin said that ZhongAn's third pillar will be to be at the forefront of the accelerated development of financial technology, expanding this advantage to make it a "business driver."

ZhongAn Technology's blockchain-based open source platform

ZhongAn Insurance said it has been developing an open source blockchain platform. ZhongAn has developed a blockchain protocol to enable insurance transactions and protect the growth of its insurance ecosystem from shocks. In addition, ZhongAn said that this secure platform can link business partners and operational data in a distributed ledger:

“This open source technology platform has a much lower technical threshold in development and maintenance, reduces barriers to business cooperation, and improves operational efficiency.”

ZhongAn Technology and 20 like-minded business partners will establish a cooperative alliance. Alliance members include representatives from major financial institutions, insurance, construction and renovation, consumer finance, logistics, payment, healthcare, security and retail industries. The alliance has established the Shanghai Blockchain Enterprise Development Alliance, which is committed to promoting blockchain research and development in China.

ZhongAn’s blockchain uses Ethereum

ZhongAn’s website has a detailed description of how its blockchain protocol can be used. The Chinese online insurance company uses a forked version of the Ethereum blockchain for its operations, and Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin said he would be happy to see ZhongAn use the technology he helped create.

“ZhongAn Technology has integrated our technology to build an open-source platform, and the Chinese insurance industry is also actively exploring the application of blockchain technology,” he said. “I hope more and more Chinese companies can join this field and help the development of this new field.”

In addition to the blockchain alliance and multiple R&D initiatives, ZhongAn is also working with Fudan University’s School of Computer Science and Technology to establish a “Blockchain and Information Security Laboratory.”