The Beijing municipal authority reportedly disclosed details regarding a two-year (2022–2024) Metaverse innovation and development track, mandating all districts to abide by the new Web3 innovation plan.

Specifically, the development action plan is reportedly a reference to the Metaverse as a new generation of information technology integration and innovation, aimed at amplifying the development of the internet toward Web3. 

The innovation plan places a strong emphasis on promoting the growth of Metaverse-associated sectors and offering assistance to Beijing to design a benchmark city for the digital economy.

The action plan reportedly makes it mandatory for a variety of districts to design technological infrastructure at a city level and promote its use across different fields, including education and tourism. 

The development program would focus on the Integration of technical means, nominally 3D visualization and GIS (Geographic Information System), to design a visual urban sphere digital platform and appropriately advance the layout of digital native intelligent infrastructure.

“Promote digital education scenarios, support in-depth cooperation between Metaverse-related technology companies and educational institutions, expand intelligent and interactive online education models, and develop industry-wide digital teaching platforms.”

The Metaverse development action plan has also provided instruction to districts and municipalities, to offer financial and human resource assistance to create a virtual reality. The Beijing municipal government also demanded tracking nonfungible token (NFT) technology trends and deep-diving into regulatory sandbox programs to support innovation.

While China has built a reputation for its anti-crypto attitude, the authority has expressed interest in the Metaverse concept since early last year. Prior to Beijing, Shanghai also named the Metaverse in the five-year development plan.