China is seeking to standardize the Metaverse segment: the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced the formation of a working group with representatives from government, academia and various companies. The working group includes representatives from Chinese tech giants such as Huawei, Ant Group, Tencent, Baidu, NetEase and Sense Time.
In a document published in September, MIIT stated that establishing basic standards such as Metaverse terminology and architecture and design benchmarks would be helpful in finding consensus among stakeholders. The ministry noted that there is currently no consensus among academia, developers and research sectors on the definition of the Metaverse.
China intends to encourage the development of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized applications — the country continues to use blockchain technology despite the ban on cryptocurrencies. MIIT also said it plans to formulate strategic documents to clarify the development path for Web3.
Last year, several local governments committed to developing the metaverse industry. Sichuan province, once known as a hub for crypto mining, said in August it aims to develop Metaverse industry and reach a market size of 250 billion yuan ($35.1 billion) by 2025. Shandong Province also said it plans to expand Metaverse initiatives to reach a market size of 150 billion yuan.