A Province in China Begins Metaverse Journey with 2025 Action Plan

Despite banning the use of cryptocurrency, China is gradually making inroads into the virtual ecosystem as it eyes the Metaverse. Accordingly, Henan Province in China has prioritized an ambitious Metaverse project with its 2022–2025 action plan.

Henan Province Unveils Metaverse Plan

According to the plan, the Henan Province has an audacious industrial-scale Metaverse dream that would surpass 100 billion Yuan. Moreover, the Chinese province aims to build up to 10 metaverse technology research and innovation centers. 

In addition, it wants to establish an ecosystem open to collaborating with other industry players. The partnership would focus on developing software, hardware, and other wearable devices for an enhanced Metaverse experience.

Furthermore, the Metaverse Roadmap aims to build an industrial metaverse park with three to five specialized industry parks. Ten innovative metaverse enterprises, 200 specialized enterprises, and about 500 innovative unicorns are part of the grand plan.

The capital of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, will become the focus of the Metaverse Plan, as are other key cities. The cities of Luoyang, Jiaozuo, and Nanyang will focus on IT and software development. Moreover, Henan will also establish AI-powered autonomous computing hubs in four cities within the province.

In August, Henan established a Metaverse Industrial Park in its capital, Zhengzhou. The park lies on a 600-acre site with a projected annual return of 40 billion Yuan. It will also contribute about $3.33 billion in taxes and about 600,000 jobs.

China has identified the Metaverse as the virtual economy drive to propel the country’s revenue stream.

Even though the Chinese government is reluctant to have a uniform metaverse with the outside world, it is ready to support a homegrown version.

The country has announced ambitious plans to plunge resources into the metaverse journey. Chinese tech firms are moving into the virtual world by investing and expanding their portfolio. Alibaba and Tencent are two examples of Chinese corporate giants exploring the possibilities in the virtual environment.

Nanjing University Introduces a Metaverse Course

A university in mainland China has joined the league of higher education, equipping people with knowledge of the virtual ecosystem. 

In its latest push, the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology has renamed one of its departments to the “Metaverse Engineering Department.” The institution wants to integrate more Metaverse-related fields into its courses. Local reports indicate that this is the first university to include Metaverse in its program in China.

According to Pan Zhigeng, a dean in the new department, the move will make the university contribute to the virtual ecosystem’s advancement. It would also help the university identify the needs of the emerging ecosystem by training more talents to handle its operation.

The latest move is the first in China as the metaverse concept continues to gain traction in the communist nation.

In another development, the University of Tokyo also announced in July that it would begin offering courses in Metaverse Engineering before the end of the year.

More educational institutions are beginning to create new curricula aligned with the emerging trend.