A new blockchain consortium is taking shape in China.

According to a report from regional news source Sichuan Daily, A group of companies and academic institutions announced on 14th June that they are launching the consortium, based in Chengdu.

The founding members include Tianfu Software Park, BTC123, and University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. This is the first blockchain consortium based in southwestern China, where a significant amount of bitcoin mining activity take place.

The effort was unveiled during a forum named "The Global Summit Forum of Blockchain" held in Chengdu. Leon Li, CEO of Huobi, and Star Xu, CEO of OKCoin attended the forum. Local media reports that more than 1,700 people registered for the event.

The news represents the latest consortium effort to launch in China around blockchain. Less than a year ago, more than 30 companies came together to kick off an R&D consortium based in Shenzhen.

Internationally focused groups like the Linux Foundation-backed Hyperledger and R3 have also seen growth in China in the past year.

Chengdu image via Shutterstock