On May 24, Zhengzhou city - capital of Henan province, China announced a draft policy to support businesses in the metaverse field, with a plan to establish a 10 billion yuan fund (1, 42 billion USD) to promote growth and development of the industry. However, the specific time of disbursement has not yet been disclosed.
According to the draft, qualified metaverse companies moving headquarters to Zhengzhou will receive startup investment capital of up to 200 million yuan (28.34 million USD), and some incentives such as subsidies. rent. In addition, companies that successfully develop realistic metaverse applications in the city and are certified viable by the government will have the opportunity to receive 5 million yuan (710,000 USD) for each project.
Policies applicable to operating businesses focus on two separate areas. The first is to focus on researching metaverse-related technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and brain-computer interfaces. Next is the application of metaverse technology to traditional industries such as education, entertainment and commerce.
To fund metaverse initiatives, the Zhengzhou government will continue to cooperate with cities and investment funds, ensuring an additional 50 billion yuan (equivalent to 7.08 billion USD) to support development projects related to the metaverse. In particular, metaverse companies that successfully list on Chinese stock exchanges can receive cash bonuses.
The metaverse field is gaining momentum in China
Along with the announced funding policies, the city government also outlined a future vision for Zhengzhou's multi-dimensional development. They predict that the city's metaverse-related industries will reach a total annual revenue of more than 200 billion yuan ($28.34 billion) by the end of 2025.
This plan includes blockchain, a key technology in the metaverse, along with next-generation computer graphics; Human-computer interface; Artificial intelligence,… In addition, the city will also encourage the development of private blockchains, and establish a digital asset market based on non-fungible token (NFT) technology.
Zhengzhou has, along with many Chinese provinces, declared to become pioneering regions in the country's multi-dimensional development. The Shanghai government previously predicted the metaverse industry would reach annual revenue of 350 billion yuan ($49.6 billion) by the end of 2025. The city also plans to launch a metaverse industry fund worth 10 billion yuan in July 2023.
