Source: Visual China

BEIJING, July 13 (TMTPost) – Shanghai's municipal government released its 14th Five-Year Plan for Developing the Digital Economy in the megacity on Wednesday, showing its firm support for the metaverse, blockchain, non-fungible token (NTF) and Web 3.

In the five-year plan, Web 3 is considered the third generation World Wide Web. It is stressed in the development plan that the deployment of new Internet infrastructure, research and development of new technologies and innovations should be enhanced to build a network ecosystem for the future. The development plan mentions that emerging Internet technologies such as multi-platform OpenID, distributive data storage, decentralized DNS, point-to-point encrypted communication should be explored and studied.

Web 3 is a new concept that was created after the advent of the metaverse. There is not a consensus on what Web 3 really is. But it is commonly agreed within the industry that it will be a direction for the next generation of the Internet.

The development plan also mentions that it is imperative to accelerate the research and implementation of platforms that integrate the virtual world and the physical world. Fields such as online entertainment, smart manufacturing, digital content, transportation and mobility, online education and healthcare are emphasized as potential use cases for the metaverse.

Besides Web 3, the metaverse and blockchain, the concept of NFT is also covered in the development plan.

It is suggested in the development plan that industry leaders should explore the development of NFT trading platforms, study digital assets such as NFT, digital IP and Internet ownership protection.

An NFT is a financial security consisting of digital data stored in a blockchain, a form of distributed ledger. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the blockchain, and can be transferred by the owner, allowing NFTs to be sold and traded.

Shanghai is the first city to include NFT trading platforms into its 14th Five-Year development plan.