# What is electronic evidence preservation?

> Electronic evidence preservation fixes digital material, by blockchain, trusted timestamp or notarization, to show that it existed at a given moment and has not changed since. It proves nothing about the time before it was fixed, so material is fixed as soon as it appears.

- URL: https://www.mvpdata.net/en/glossary/electronic-evidence
- Updated: 2026-09-30
- Also known as: Blockchain evidence, Digital evidence preservation, 电子存证
- 简体中文: https://www.mvpdata.net/glossary/electronic-evidence

Web pages, screenshots, videos and chat logs are easy to delete or alter, and in a dispute the other side will often question whether they are genuine. Electronic evidence preservation answers one question: when did this material exist, and in what form. In Chinese it is 电子存证 (diànzǐ cúnzhèng).

## How do Chinese courts treat blockchain evidence?

China's Online Litigation Rules of the People's Courts, in force since August 1, 2021, deal with blockchain evidence directly:[^1]

- Article 16: electronic data stored on a blockchain and verified by technical checks can be accepted as unaltered since it went on the chain, unless there is sufficient evidence to the contrary;
- Article 17: where a party disputes the data after it went on the chain, the court examines the evidence platform's qualifications, its relationship with the parties, and whether its technology meets national standards;
- Article 18: a party may challenge whether the data was genuine before it went on the chain;
- Article 19: the court may check it against expert opinion, forensic examination or other evidence.

So a blockchain record proves only that nothing changed after it was made; whether the material was genuine before that can still be challenged, which is why material is fixed the moment it appears.

## What do hashes, timestamps and notaries each prove?

A hash proves only that content has not changed: the same file always gives the same hash, and changing a single byte changes it. It says nothing about when the content existed; that takes a trusted timestamp, a blockchain record or a notary.

Notarization carries legal weight: China's Notarization Law lists the preservation of evidence among the matters a notary office handles (Article 11), and notarized facts and documents are taken as the basis for finding facts unless there is enough evidence to the contrary to overturn them (Article 36).[^2]

## Where can evidence be preserved?

The courts run their own evidence chains: the Beijing Internet Court's Tianping Chain[^3] and the Hangzhou Internet Court's judicial blockchain.[^4]

Commercial evidence services (each described in the vendor's own words):

- Zhixin Chain (至信链): an evidence-storage service platform;[^5]
- Quanli Weishi (权利卫士): photo, video, audio, web and screen-recording evidence with trusted timestamps;[^6]
- eGongzheng (公证云): an online notarization platform with online applications for notarization and an electronic data custody platform.[^7]

## Further reading

- Handling impersonation, infringement and online abuse: [Reputation & risk](https://www.mvpdata.net/en/services/protection)

## Related terms

- [What is notice and takedown?](https://www.mvpdata.net/en/glossary/notice-and-takedown): Notice and takedown is the rule under which a rights holder notifies a platform of infringing content and the platform acts on it. China and the US use it; Canada's copyright law uses notice and notice, which requires a notice to be forwarded, not content to be removed.
- [What is a reliable electronic signature?](https://www.mvpdata.net/en/glossary/reliable-electronic-signature): A reliable electronic signature meets the four conditions of Article 13 of China's Electronic Signature Law and has the same legal force as a handwritten signature or seal. Documents on personal relations such as marriage, adoption and inheritance fall outside the law's electronic-document rules.
- [What is a talent management agreement?](https://www.mvpdata.net/en/glossary/management-contract): A talent management agreement is a contract under which a manager or agency represents an artist, creator or streamer for a share of their income. It is not an employment contract, although courts look at actual control, not the label.

[^1]: 《人民法院在线诉讼规则》 (Online Litigation Rules of the People’s Courts), Supreme People’s Court, 法释〔2021〕12 号. Effective 2021-08-01. https://www.court.gov.cn/fabu/xiangqing/309551.html (Checked 2026-09-30, Unofficial translation)
[^2]: 《中华人民共和国公证法》 (Notarization Law of the People’s Republic of China), Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. Published 2017-09-01. http://www.npc.gov.cn/zgrdw/npc/xinwen/2017-09/12/content_2028695.htm (Checked 2026-09-30, Unofficial translation)
[^3]: 天平链 (Tianping Chain), Beijing Internet Court. https://tpl.bjinternetcourt.gov.cn/tpl/ (Checked 2026-09-30)
[^4]: 杭州互联网法院司法区块链 (Hangzhou Internet Court judicial blockchain), Hangzhou Internet Court. https://blockchain.netcourt.gov.cn/ (Checked 2026-09-30, Unofficial translation)
[^5]: 至信链 (Zhixin Chain), Zhixin Chain. https://www.zxinchain.com/ (Checked 2026-09-30, Vendor’s own claim)
[^6]: 权利卫士 (Quanli Weishi), Beijing United Trust Technology Service Co., Ltd.. https://www.tsa.cn/quanliweishi.html (Checked 2026-09-30, Vendor’s own claim)
[^7]: 公证云 (eGongzheng), eGongzheng. https://www.egongzheng.com/ (Checked 2026-09-30, Vendor’s own claim)