A state-owned scientific institution overseen by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has announced that it will produce monthly assessments of blockchain projects.

Revealed during a seminar on Friday hosted by the China Electronic Information Industry Development (CCID), the initiative will see the development of an independent rating system – much like a Moody’s or Standard & Poor – for the blockchain space.

Dubbed the “Global Public Chain Assessment Index,” the system will initially focus on 28 major blockchain projects, looking at their technological capabilities and use cases.

Established in 1995, CCID is the designated scientific research institute for the MIIT, and is responsible for technology research and development, policy-making as well as software testing for a variety of sectors.

In August 2017, the CCID launched a dedicated blockchain research arm based in China’s Qingdao city, which will be the main entity to carry out the blockchain assessment work moving forward. A detailed report for the first round of evaluation will be released in the days following Friday’s seminar, officials said.

The initiative marks a notable move by a Chinese state-owned institute under one of the 26 cabinet-level ministries supervised by the country’s State Council. It also comes at a time when the MIIT is beefing up its wider efforts to establish national blockchain standards.

As reported by CoinDesk, the MIIT announced in March this year that it will expedite the creation of a committee to oversee the development of blockchain standardization for the nation. The agency later moved up the initiative, positioning it as one of its top priorities for 2018.

That work is expected to be completed by the end of next year, officials said this week.

Chinese flag image via Shutterstock