(Yicai Global) June 24 -- A technology arm of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group has unveiled a network to improve the ways blockchain platforms communicate with each other.

AntChain's Blockchain Transmission Network has "highway entrances" in Shanghai, Zhangjiakou, Hong Kong, Singapore, Frankfurt, and Singapore, so Chinese, Western European, and Southeast Asian blockchain platforms may find it easy to connect to the network, the Paper reported, citing AntChain Director Yan Ying. Another 16 access points are planned, she added.

AntChain was facing difficulties in blockchain-based cross-border remittance services in 2018 so it decided to find a solution to this problem, Zhang Hui, technical director at the Hangzhou-based Alipay operator, said to the Paper.

The BTN can nearly triple the throughput of blockchain networks, reduce bandwidth costs by 80 percent, and cut transmission latency by 40 percent, Yan said at a press conference yesterday. The technology automatically recommends the best communication routes for users, Yan added.

Ant Group began developing blockchain technologies in 2015. The firm ranked first worldwide in the number of blockchain patent applications and granted patents for the four straight years ended 2020, according to AntChain’s website.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi