The Top 5 China NFT Marketplaces in 2022

25 July 2022 | Sum K & Janie Z | 3 min read

Intro

China’s NFT market is growing fast, bustling with over 200 trading platforms in the marketplace. According to Statista, the highest number of google searches for the word “NFT” is from China. Non Fungible Token transactions in China are predicted to reach US $4.57 billion in 2026. By the mid-2020s, Metaverse in China will grow to US$50 billion. Despite the ban of cryptocurrencies and a yet-to-be-clear regulatory environment, NFT, or Digital collectibles, is a growing phenomenon in China in 2022.

Table Of Contents

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Intro
The top five NFT Marketplaces in China

1. JingTan (Topnod) NTF Marketplace in China
2. Huanhe NFT marketplace in China
3. Lingxi NFT Marketplace in China
4. TheOne.art NFT marketplace in China
5. Bigverse marketplace in China

Conclusion

The top five NFT Marketplaces in China

1. JingTan (Topnod) NTF Marketplace in China

One of the most popular marketplaces in China is the Ant Group-developed platform JingTan. Ant Group belonged to China’s tech giant Alibaba. The number of users on the platform exceeds 26 million, and the daily traffic flow exceeds 6 million. Thousands of digital collectible items are available including art pieces, music and historical artifacts from museums.

The platform runs on a hybrid blockchain called AntChain, which is not completely decentralised and is working with some government offices. In order to avoid regulatory risks, JingTan (Topnod) requires users who purchased their NFTs to wait at least 180 days before they can gift them to another party. Unlike the western counterparts, buyers have to provide their real names and complete their transactions with fiat currency.

2. Huanhe NFT marketplace in China

Tencent Holdings launched its NFT marketplace called Huanhe in August 2021 together with their first series of Non-Fungible Tokens. The digital art was based on a celebrity talk show “13 Invitations” and was an instant hit. In addition to collaborations with famous artists and museums, Huanhe also teamed up with consumer brands such as the automotive industry.

Tencent has an edge in this space due to its cloud and blockchain technology infrastructure. Its marketplace Huanhe is built on the Zxin Chain, a blockchain that belongs to the government-authorised Alliance Blockchain (Ant’s Chain is also part of the Alliance). The average price of the NFTs is higher compared to other marketplaces. Secondary trading and transfer are not supported on this platform.

3. Lingxi NFT Marketplace in China

Jumping on the NFT bandwagon after Alibaba and Tencent, JD.com, one of the biggest eCommerce retailers in China, minted Non Fungible Tokens in its own marketplace Lingxi. JD.com’s tech arm JD Technology released the NFTs for free to anyone that registered in its company’s annual tech summit. The seven NFTs are modeled after JD.com’s mascot, representing retail, tech, logistics, health, finance and smart cities.

Lingxi runs on its own blockchain technology called JD Chain (or Zhizhen Chain). The company said it has developed an NFT technical service platform that users can store, verify and trace NFT collections. Similar to Alibaba and Tencent, a real name is required and reselling is not allowed but the users can later transfer the digital collectibles to other parties.

4. TheOne.art NFT marketplace in China

TheOne.art is one of the first digital art e-commerce platforms in China that launched in June 2021. The marketplace launched the “world’s first digital art creation competition” in August of the same year and attracted thousands of artists to buy and sell in the platform. It successfully released famous NFTs such as the Forbidden City and Dunhuang series.

Unlike the big tech-affiliated marketplaces, TheOne.art is one of the very few marketplaces that permit secondary trading and is the leader of the second-hand NFTs market in China. TheOne,art uses the Ethereum and Polygon public chain and thus creators can also sync their works to oversea marketplaces such as OpenSea and Rarible.

5. Bigverse marketplace in China

Formerly known as NFTCN, Bigverse is the marketplace for independent artists and collectors to mint, buy and sell NFTs. The website claimed that new user can mint immediately using the platform, but there are a limit of twenty art pieces that can be uploaded. At present, the platform has over 10 million registered users and more than 1 million artists. The number of monthly active users has reached 2 million.

The platform supports various distribution modes, such as blind box distribution and auction. Bigverse uses back-end technology that is based on a side chain of Ethereum. In order to avoid crypto transactions, users need to purchase special cards with fiat currency to trade. The marketplace provides secondary trading and collections can be resold.

Conclusion

The market potential for NFTs is huge while China is moving carefully to provide the regulatory framework for the market. China’s state-backed Blockchain Services Network (BSN) launched the infrastructure to build their own NFT platforms and use digital yuan instead of cryptocurrencies. China is going to build an NFT ecosystem with Chinese characteristics. There are still more use cases yet to be explored for NFTs. International brands can also enter the NFT market via Metaverse Marketing. If you are interested in introducing a foreign NFT to the Chinese market or building one in China, book a consultation with us!

What is the market value of NFT in China?

China expects its NFT market to grow at a rate of 150% and reach 29.52 billion yuan by 2026. In 2021, the number of NFT collections issued by each trading platform was about 4.56 million, with a total issue market value of about 150 million and an average selling price of about $33.33.

Who are the customers of China’s NFT market?

The consumers of NFTs are mainly young people between eighteen-thirty. Most of these people are school students and have no source of income; some are consumers who have recently entered the workplace, and they believe that digital collectibles (NFT) will be the next shortcut to riches, like Bitcoin.

Can I use crypto to buy NFT in China?

Not really, the majority of NFT transactions in China are decoupled from cryptocurrencies. All crypto-based counterparties choose to denominate their purchases directly through RMB, using traditional non-crypto means, such as bank cards, Alipay, and WeChat Pay for payment processing instead.
https://www.enlybee.com/the-most-comprehensive-report-to-chinas-nft-market/

Is there a secondary NFT market in China using crypto?

No, the creators of NFTs in China have not yet opened an official or unofficial secondary market for such tokens due to a series of government regulations. But according to analysts, a pilot digital art trading secondary market to be opened by the government is predicted to be approved to go live in 2022.
https://www.enlybee.com/the-most-comprehensive-report-to-chinas-nft-market/

What is the difference between NFT and “digital collectible”?

In China, they use the term “digital collectible” to describe non-fungible tokens or cryptocurrencies because of the government’s opposition to cryptocurrencies, which encourages speculation and can lead to money laundering and capital outflows.

Can I buy NFT anonymously in China?

No, you are required to register with your real name in order to purchase digital collectibles in China. The rule is to prevent money laundering and speculation.

Is there an official platform to buy and sell NFT in China?

The Blockchain Services Network, a Chinese state-backed blockchain company, plans to roll out infrastructure that would allow individuals and businesses in China to make, sell, and buy NFTs in 2022. China blocks all public blockchains like Ethereum. Instead, the BSN network will use adapted blockchains from Ethereum and nine other platforms that meet regulatory requirements in China.