China's Communist Party Central Committee and the State Council issued a 19-measure economic blueprint on Oct. 9 that calls for a national blockchain network, a nationwide computing grid and rules governing data ownership and trading. The document places blockchain infrastructure within efforts to combine traditional industry with digital technology, while warning officials against speculative bubbles and prioritizing the real economy over the virtual one. It endorses the East Data, West Computing program, which routes data from eastern cities to data centers in western China. The plan does not mention Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, and it does not say whether the proposed network will use the state-backed Blockchain-based Service Network, which launched in April 2020 and excludes independent cryptocurrencies. Crypto trading remains illegal in mainland China, a restriction restated in February by the People's Bank of China and seven other agencies. Beijing's digital-currency strategy instead centers on the digital yuan, whose steady development was included in the PBOC's five-year plan in August. The Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission and the National Development and Reform Commission will issue follow-up rules that could clarify the network's scope and treatment of cryptocurrency activity.