Source: Visual China

BEIJING, February 15 (TMTPOST) — China’s tech innovation hub Shenzhen has included metaverse in its development strategy plan.

The development of metaverse is highlighted in the government work report of the 8th People’s Congress Meeting of Shenzhen Futian District, which was released on January 21, 2022. This was the first time for the local government in Shenzhen, an innovation hub that is considered as China’s Silicon Valley, to mention metaverse in its three-year development plan for its digital economy.

The Shenzhen government pledges to develop six digital industries in the future, which are digital infrastructure, digital technology, digital manufacturing, fintech, digital culture and digital commerce.

In the work report, the Shenzhen government stresses that it is imperative to drive the application and commercialization of new technologies, such as blockchain technology, quantum information and artificial intelligence. The Shenzhen government also wishes to explore the use scenes of emerging innovations such as the metaverse and digital RMB.

In addition, the Shenzhen government aims to further develop the Shenzhen Data Trading Center and drive the development of its digital economy.

The work report details a development plan that covers an economic zone of over 20 square kilometers, aiming to attract professional talents from both home and overseas.

Shenzhen is not the first Chinese city to enshrine metaverse in its city development plan. First-tier and second-tier Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Wuhan and Hefei have also added the metaverse to their economic development plan. East China’s Zhejiang province and Wuxi city have also stated that the metaverse would be one of the development directions for their local economy, trying to strengthen research and development of technologies and commercial products related to the metaverse.

Pundits had estimated that major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hangzhou would pour resources into the metaverse sector. Some experts have estimated that local governments in China might provide policy support for the development of virtual reality technologies and foundational technologies for the metaverse.