Wuhan pledges to develop metaverse to boost Covid-ravaged economy

Wuhan, the major city in central China where Covid-19 first emerged, has announced plans to embrace the metaverse in an effort to boost its pandemic-devasted economy.

Fast facts

• The government of Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province, will push ahead with integrating the metaverse, blockchain, big data, cloud computing, geospatial information and quantum technology into its economy, according to its 2022 work plan.

• Three other regions — Zhejiang province, Hefei city in Anhui province and Wuxi city in Jiangsu province — have also laid out their metaverse ambitions in work plans or other announcements, according to the China Securities Journal.

• Chinese state media has previously issued warnings about the metaverse, including an Economic Daily opinion piece that compared small- and mid-sized metaverse investments to “licking the blood on the edge of a knife,” citing what it called immature technology.

• Chinese companies, including tech giants such as Baidu and NetEase, have rushed into the metaverse space, registering more than 3,700 related trademarks as of Monday, according to data from business tracker Qichacha.