Briefly:

• Zhengzhou released a strategic plan for the metaverse industry.
• The Henan capital has launched a 10 billion yuan (about $1.4 billion) fund and plans to launch another 50 billion yuan (about $7.08 billion) fund in the future.
• The plan also indicates that the Zhengzhou municipal government will provide separate incentives for Metaverse companies to set up stores in the city.

China’s big bet on the Metaverse continues to materialize, with yet another major city pushing the idea. Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, on Wednesday unveiled a strategic plan to support metaverse companies operating within its jurisdiction.

The Zhengzhou municipal government will also provide incentives to attract more metaverse companies to set up shop in the city, according to the announcement.

The government plans to launch a 10 billion yuan (approximately US$1.4 billion) fund for the Metaverse industry. Zhengzhou will also work with other government agencies to expand its fund to support Metaverse-related projects to his 60 billion yuan (about $8.48 billion).

Metaverse companies relocating their headquarters to the capital of Henan province will receive up to 200 million yuan (about US$28.34 million) in start-up funding, according to the report. Other government incentives include rent subsidies and cash rewards for Metaverse companies listed on major Chinese stock exchanges. forkast news report.

Metaverse enterprises already established in the city will be given a subsidy of up to 5 million yuan (US$710,000) for each metaverse project deemed useful by the city government.

The funding will be allocated specifically to research projects related to virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and brain-computer interfaces. There are also large scale plans for projects to explore opportunities in the educational, commercial and entertainment sectors.

While some publishers continue to dismiss the metaverse as a dead dream, China appears to have ambitious plans for the industry. Zhengzhou expects this metaverse to bring him up to 200 billion yuan (US$28.34 billion) in annual revenue by the end of 2025.

China has banned open-source public blockchains in the country, instead encouraging companies building on them to use the Blockchain Service Network (BSN), which will launch in 2022. And despite China’s restrictions on non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Zhengzhou also has a digital asset market based on NFT technology.

Zhengzhou is joining the list of Chinese cities to announce ambitious Metaverse plans, with Nanjing being the latest. China’s capital, Shanghai, is also launching its own 10 billion yuan (about US$1.4 billion) metaverse fund by July 2023, and the metaverse industry is expected to generate up to 350 billion yuan in revenue by the end of 2025. ing.

China’s restrictive technology policies make it difficult for businesses to profit from the metaverse. Recently, Tencent was forced to shut down its XR division just four months after the team was founded, laying off 100 staff.

Baidu’s Metaverse business head Ma Jie has also resigned after the Chinese internet giant appears to have exited its Metaverse division to focus on generative AI.

Zhengzhou and Shanhai’s massive Metaverse funds could give companies new reasons to continue pursuing opportunities in immersive 3D worlds.

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