China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has assembled 60 experts, including some from the country’s largest technology companies, to establish a new working group to establish standards in the metaverse field.
The list released by MIIT on Friday includes telecom equipment giant Huawei, video game giants Tencent Holdings and NetEase, web search and artificial intelligence champion Baidu, and financial technology company Ant.・Includes representatives from computer manufacturer Lenovo Group.
Ant is an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding and the owner of Post.
Other members include MIIT officials and researchers from Peking University, Fudan University, and other prominent institutions in the country.
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Chinese tech companies pursue metaverse opportunities with immersive virtual online worlds
Chinese tech companies pursue metaverse opportunities with immersive virtual online worlds
In September, MIIT proposed establishing a working group to “guide the healthy and orderly development of the Metaverse industry through standard regulation” and warned that the sector faces ethical and security challenges.
The group would be tasked with “building and maintaining the Metaverse industry standards system,” “promoting standards” and “training personnel,” the regulator said in its proposal.
In addition to focusing on national standards, the group also “encourages local businesses and institutions to become deeply involved in international standard-setting activities.”
Metaverse is a loosely defined term that refers to a virtual three-dimensional world and has become a trending topic in recent years.
US social media giant Facebook changed its company name to Metaplatforms in 2021. In announcing the rebrand, CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg explained that he was embracing “the next chapter of the internet.”
In 2022, Meta, Microsoft and others established the Metaverse Standards Forum. The forum also includes Huawei, Tencent, and other Chinese tech giants.
Several local governments have made development of the metaverse sector a priority.
The Tongzhou district in eastern Beijing, considered the capital’s “subcenter,” announced it would incorporate more than 100 Metaverse-related companies by the end of the year.
The city of Shanghai plans to establish both government-backed and private funds dedicated to metaverse development. The first organization was established in late 2022 and initially raised a total of RMB 1 billion (US$140 million).