Top Chinese Companies Including Tencent and Huawei Build Joint Metaverse Institute

China’s incursion into Metaverse development continues to pick up steam as the days go by. Considering the novelty of this industry, one of the key areas that form the foundation for Metaverse development is education. To this effect, some top Chinese technological companies, including Tencent and Huawei have collaborated to build a joint Metaverse institute in Shanghai.

The new institution, The Joint Research Institute of Metaverse and Virtual-Real Interaction was created as an academic research institution. It arrives after a similar institution, The Joint Innovation Center for the Metaverse was created earlier this year, in June 2022 to be precise. These institutions are created mainly for academic research in the field of the metaverse.

Among the entities that are in collaboration in the establishment of The Joint Research Institute of Metaverse and Virtual-Real Interaction are Fudan University, China Mobile’s Migu, Tencent Interactive Entertainment, Huawei, Epic Games, and other institutions. Peking University, Renmin University, Zhejiang University, Nanjing University, and other well-known universities.

A pioneer dean has been appointed for the newly created institute, in the person of Zhao Xing, a professor at the Big Data Research Institute at Fudan University and the National Intelligent Evaluation and Governance Experimental Base. Zhao applauded the accommodative approach of Shanghai as a region toward technological development. He noted that such an accommodating approach has played a key role in why the new institute is located in the region.

According to Zhao, Shanghai as a province retains the experience of digital transformation and construction. He also identifies the strong support of the region towards metaverse talent, technology, industry, urban environment, and consumption capacity. In his opinion, the above-mentioned elements make up the core factors for locating the new institute in Shanghai.

Digital development in China took a new dimension from the beginning of 2022. Following the clampdown of crypto activities in 2021, what would become of the blockchain industry from 2022 going forward was largely unknown coming into the new year. There were expectations that the ban on crypto activities could rub off on other aspects of the blockchain industry.

China was quick to clarify that while it did not support cryptocurrency activities as a government, blockchain development was however encouraged. The government’s efforts showed that it was interested in becoming a leader in the field of blockchain development and implementation. This was the core of the message after the “14th Five-Year Plan for Digital Economy Development” that was released in January 2022.

Across the Chinese nation, novel digital formats are being introduced, with the metaverse forming one of the key aspects of this digital revolution. So far in 2022, the cities in China that have launched their independent metaverse development policies include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Xiamen among others.

Shanghai’s standout role in all of these is contained in the multiple developments that have sprung up within its region over this period. In July 2022, the Shanghai government released an action plan that will govern the cultivation of the metaverse for the next three years.

The economic projection contained in the plan projects the achievement of a 350 billion yuan ($51 billion) valuation of metaverse projects in Shanghai by 2025. This is expected to ripple across the tech ecosystem, driving the scale of the software and information services industry to exceed 1.5 trillion yuan and the scale of the electronic information manufacturing industry to exceed 550 billion yuan.