China Central Television (CCTV), the country’s primary state broadcaster, has said the economic value of blockchain is “10 times more than that of the internet.”

In a segment named “Dialogue,” aired Sunday night through the station’s Finance Channel, CCTV host Chen Weihong featured an hour-long discussion that was for the first time dedicated to educating its wide audience-base on the concept, potential and risks of blockchain technology.

The conversation also featured prominent figures from the blockchain industry in both private and public sectors including Don Tapscott, the well-known author of “Blockchain Revolution.”

Other speakers included Chen Lei, CEO of cloud network giant Xunlei, and Zhang Shoucheng, a physics professor at Stanford University and founder of Danhua Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in blockchain technology.

Most notably, after Tapscott and Chen kicked off the discussion by explaining the basic concept of blockchain and distributed ledger technology, the host continued by suggesting blockchain is the second phase of the internet and has a value 10 times greater than its predecessor.

On that theme, Zhang commented:

“While the real value of the internet is aggregating individual pieces of information into one place, which is exactly what Google and Facebook does, we are now entering an era where information is being decentralized so that individuals can own their individual data. And that’s the real value of blockchain that makes it exciting.”

That said, the program was in parts critical of the nascent technology and the topic of initial coin offerings (ICOs) did not escape the conversation.

By summarizing some of the usual marketing slogans used by potentially fraudulent ICOs and having each speaker to explain them to the station’s wide audience base, the program again signaled the station’s ongoing efforts to scrutinize cryptocurrency projects in China.

Just last week, CCTV blasted domestic token sale activities as still “rampant,” despite a 2017 ban on ICOs in the country.

Program image via YouTube