Blockchain technology will play an important role in industrial transformation, according to the 2019 International Blockchain Empowerment Summit held in Shanghai. The technology can help streamline processes, reduce friction between parties exchanging information and offer cheaper and more effective solutions. It can be used from financing and manufacturing to trade. The technology is bringing a fundamental change to the manufacturing industry, according to Zhao Xiaolei, director of UNIDO ITPO Shanghai that was built by the city government, China’s Ministry of Commerce and the UN.