One of the busiest cities in China, Shanghai is reportedly looking for ways to use a Metaverse in their public services over the next five (5) years.
The five-year development plan identified four (4) boundaries for exploration, the Metaverse being one of them. The development plan was released by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology.
Reportedly, they would like to deploy the Metaverse in public services, corporate offices, social leisure, industrial manufacturing, manufacturing safety, and in video games. In addition, the committee plans to encourage further study and development of underlying technologies, such as sensors, real-time interactions and blockchain technology.
China’s interest in new technology
It is not unknown that China has a great interest in the relatively new technology. In recent years, the country has made efforts to establish a digital currency from the Central Bank (CBDC), as well as to promote the use of biometric hardware wallets for the virtual yuan. The country now seems very close to issuing it.
Also, earlier this year, a five-year development plan was released by the Chinese State Council. From this it became clear that the term ‘Blockchain’ was used for the first time. This now 14th five-year plan outlines the country’s economic goals for the next five years. Blockchain seems to be playing a major role here.
Over the past few months, the Metaverse has become extremely popular. Several large companies are now investigating the Metaverse, or have already confirmed that they want to use it.
Although the central bank of China issued a warning about the Metaverse in November, more than 1,000 companies have already filed several thousand trademark applications in China, in which the Metaverse is named. It is not yet known what size the Metaverse will be in the future.