02 Feb 2023
The Race to be the Metaverse Hub: China's Suzhou City Leads the Charge
Virtual reality and augmented reality have recently emerged as prominent topics of discussion in the realm of digital technology. These technologies often referred to collectively as the “metaverse,” are altering how we live, work, and communicate with one another.
Cities worldwide compete with one another to be acknowledged as the primary center for metaverse innovation as the global market for technologies related to the metaverse continues to expand. Recently, the city of Suzhou, located in the Jiangsu Province of China with a population of 12 million people, has entered the competition with an audacious plan to become the go-to destination for metaverse development.
The city has established the goal of luring more than 200 businesses operating in the virtual reality technology sector by 2025. As part of this endeavor, it plans to construct 30 metaverse application scenarios. To propel its metaverse aspirations, Suzhou is concentrating on several industries, including healthcare, tourism, education, and the city's administration.
Even though the budget for this plan has not been made public, the city has its sights set on a metaverse-related industry valued at 200 billion yuan (approximately $29.77 billion) by 2025. In China, there is a lot of competition for the title of “metaverse hub,” as numerous other cities and regions are also vying for the position. The nation's first metaverse industrial fund has been established in Shanghai, the country's financial capital.
The fund's objective is to collect 1 billion yuan, equivalent to approximately $149 million in the United States. Other cities and provinces in China, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing, and Jinan, and the provinces of Zhejiang and Henan, have also published development plans for the metaverse.
The competition is not restricted to taking place only in China. South Korea is also making a significant effort to advance the metaverse. The country has set a target date of 2026 for entering the top five nations worldwide in this field. Residents of the nation's capital city will have access to various digital platform services thanks to an initiative called “Metaverse Seoul,” launched by the country.
Competition to become the center of the metaverse is heating up, and Suzhou is working hard to position itself at the vanguard of the ongoing digital revolution. Suzhou is well set to become a significant player in the global metaverse industry due to its concentration on metaverse application scenarios in critical sectors and its ambitious goals.
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