The Shanghai government has included metaverse entertainment, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and Web3 technologies into its five-year digital economy plan, according to a policy paper published on Tuesday.
Fast facts
- Shanghai will boost development of immersive technologies such as brain-computer interface and extended reality (XR), which can enhance metaverse entertainment such as virtual concerts, idols and sports.
- Shanghai intends to support enterprises to explore NFT marketplaces, as well as those that research and pilot asset digitization, trading of digital intellectual property (IP) and digital ownership.
- Shanghai will encourage cross-industry applications of blockchain technology such as data trading and gaming.
- Shanghai also said it will accelerate the launch of new generation technologies, such as cross-platform digital identity, distributed data storage and decentralized Domain Name System (DNS).
- Shanghai aims to grow its metaverse-related industries to US$52 billion by 2025, following June’s 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) fund pledge.
- Local governments across the country have proposed a total of 45 policy documents to support metaverse-related industries, according to local media 01 Caijing.
AUTHOR PROFILE
NINGWEI QIN
Ningwei is a Research Associate at Forkast. She previously worked for Caixin, Renmin Daily and CCTV. Ningwei holds a Masters degree from the University of Hong Kong
