(Yicai Global) Sept. 15 -- China Banknote Printing & Minting Corporation (CBPM), run by China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, set up a blockchain research institute in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, to conduct studies on blockchain and digital currency technology and applications, the Shanghai Securities News reported.

The Institute will be one of the few institutions within the central bank system taking blockchain as the core field of research.

The newly established institute will be directly under the management of Zhongchao Credit Card Industry Development Co., one of the main enterprises of CBPM. It engages in the research of electronic money and electronic payment technology and has made substantial contributions in the field of digital currency research, media reports indicate.

"From the geographical point of view, the institute was chosen to be located in Hangzhou because Hangzhou is considered to have first mover advantage in the field of blockchain," an expert in the field of blockchain said.

Hangzhou is one of the more developed areas in China's internet industry, where e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's [NYSE:BABA) headquarters is located.

In order to better monitor emerging financial technologies, the central bank has set up a fintech committee and a digital currency research institute this year.