SHANGHAI - Commercial banks should step up their application of blockchain technology to embrace digital finance, a Chinese central bank official said on Monday.

Li Wei, head of the People's Bank of China's technology department, made the comments at a forum in Shanghai. Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the country's development of blockchain technology should be sped up.

(Reporting by Samuel Shen and Brenda Goh in Shanghai Editing by Sonya Hepinstall) ((brenda.goh@thomsonreuters.com; +86 (0) 21 6104 1763; Reuters Messaging: brenda.goh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))