With the metaverse becoming more prevalent daily, Beijing has announced a two-year plan to join the metaverse. Many countries like South Korea, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia already have a favorable view of the metaverse and its associated technology.
With the rise of more companies like Google, Amazon, Nvidia, and countries like South Korea creating metaverse, China may feel the need to develop their own.
What is The Metaverse
The metaverse is a 3D virtual reality system designed with technology that creates an immersive and user-friendly way to navigate the internet. Using virtual reality goggles such as an Oculus Rift, users can easily interact with a virtual space, making it easier and more unique to explore the internet from the comfort of your home.
Using the metaverse for Chinese citizens may be beneficial as more people can stay home and work there. This can reduce the growing strain on the transport and road infrastructure.
Beijing’s Two-Year Plan
With such a massive population, Beijing has a population of over 21 million citizens while China has a population of 1.4 billion; some people may know what the metaverse is; however, some may not. The Chinese National Government is implementing a campaign to promote the metaverse to its citizens.
With this two-year Plan to promote the metaverse, the Chinese National Government requires Beijing to develop infrastructures in many of its districts. The infrastructure will build the ” visual urban space digital platform,” using 3D visualization and GIS (geographic information systems) technologies.
This Plan will also include the integration of NFTs and other metaverse plans by the year 2024 for the country. The Chinese National Government has banned crypto mining, with the People’s Bank of China prohibiting all forms of cryptocurrency transactions. It has harsh regulations on ownership of NFTs, so the Chinese National Government only aims to use NFTs for administrative purposes.
China’s Investment Into The Metaverse
With Chinese tech giants investing an estimated eight trillion dollars into the metaverse development, China is leading the charge in its creation. Baidu, a Chinese tech company, created a metaverse app called “The land of Hope” in December of 2021.
The Parent company of Tiktok, Byte Dance, has developed two metaverse apps. The app Party Island and Pixsoul are still in beta testing and can only be used from an invitational code.
The Chinese National Government so far has not issued any policies against these creations; however, with their cryptocurrency ban, China may have to create its currency to fit its schedule for the metaverse.
Systems Already in Place
China is now accepting the usage of digital Yuan in the city of Ningbo in the province of Zhejiang. The administration of Ningbo has asked citizens to link their digital wallets to the subway system in the town. Other cities like Guangzhou accept digital Yuan as payment for tram rides.
Aim of The Two-Year Plan
The Chinese National Government is promoting this technology and providing financial and Hr support to their citizens to help build the Chinese metaverse. As the Chinese Government tracks trends regarding NFTs and supporting sandbox technologies, it may be slowly changing its view of NFTs and cryptocurrency.
What Does This Mean For China And Its Citizens
The development of the metaverse is a tall order for the country. Still, China has proven with its many citizens and resources that it can build or create anything it needs, for example, the Hangzhou Bay Bridge and the South-North Water Transfer Project.
With other Chinese cities besides Beijing also creating metaverse plans for their cities, China is looking to develop a functioning metaverse to become one of the first countries to do so, making it a lead developer in this race to create one.
