In its metaverse initiative, Beijing follows the Shanghai city that revealed a five-year strategy that focuses on cultivating metaverse industry. By 2025, the local government is planning to create more than 100 companies that master core metaverse technologies.
On Tuesday, Beijing announced a two-year plan for developing metaverse and driving the growth of the internet toward Web3. Called the “Beijing Urban Sub-Center Metaverse Innovation and Development Action Plan (2022 -2024)”, the document highlights the necessity of developing technological infrastructure in all the cities and promoting the use of metaverse in various fields, such as education and tourism.
To bring the technological environment in cities to the urban level, Beijing wants to integrate technical means like 3D visualization and GIS (Geographic Information System) and develop a visual urban space digital platform. Besides, it requires districts and municipalities to keep track of non-fungible token (NFT) technology trends and explore regulatory sandbox programs to support innovation. Beijing has also instructed districts and municipalities to provide financial and human resource support to develop virtual reality.
The announcement reads:
“In order to systematically promote the development of Metaverse-related industries in the sub-center of the city, create an urban technological innovation highland with distinctive digital characteristics, and help Beijing build a benchmark city for the digital economy, this action plan is specially formulated.”
In its metaverse initiative, Beijing follows the Shanghai city that revealed a five-year strategy that focuses on cultivating metaverse industry. By 2025, the local government is planning to create more than 100 companies that master core metaverse technologies.
China: Incredulous of Crypto, Hopeful of Metaverse
China has been the enemy of the crypto industry, banning mining and outlawing initial coin offerings and crypto-based transactions. However, when it comes to metaverse and Web3, seems that the country sees potential in this technology and pursues other uses of blockchain technology and NFTs, as long as the technology stays under its control.
The growth of metaverse in China partially results from the tech competition between China and the US. Thanks to its massive and increasingly affluent user base, China is a potentially lucrative market for the metaverse. First, the local giants such as Alibaba and Tencent have been the proponents of China’s metaverse initiatives. However, now the government also sees numerous advantages of the metaverse. Local governments, such as Shanghai, Wuhan, and Hefei, have even started to include the topic in their government work reports for 2022.
For example, last month, Shanghai announced its plan to stimulate the growth of metaverse. With around 10 billion yuan in assets dedicated to metaverse development, the Shanghai government aims to build an industry fund.
Besides, earlier in June, Hang Seng Company Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hang Seng Bank, launched Hang Seng China Metaverse Index to track the performance of Chinese companies involved in metaverse businesses.
Darya is a crypto enthusiast who strongly believes in the future of blockchain. Being a hospitality professional, she is interested in finding the ways blockchain can change different industries and bring our life to a different level.
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