According to The Crypto Times, Tsinghua University has opened China’s first Metaverse laboratory. This lab aims to look at how the new digital industry grows and changes in the country.
This Metaverse lab goes by the name of “Metaverse Culture Laboratory” and Tsinghua’s School of Journalism and Communications and China Online created it. This is China’s largest source of real digital content. There are a lot of areas in the Metaverse that media companies can explore. The lab will be doing research and looking at trends in the Metaverse to get a better idea of where these areas are.
Moreover, the lab wants to play a role in scientific research, technology, talent, and industrial advantages. As Tsinghua University stated, it also wants to explore deep-seated issues and form leading ideas. Given these points, Tsinghua University wants to be a leader in Metaverse research.
China’s New Digital Landscape
China has recently become a major player in the Metaverse and non-fungible token (NFT) industries. Just recently, Xpeng, a company that makes electric cars in China, made car-model-themed NFTs. Additionally, the e-commerce giant, Alibaba, is behind the Jingtan NFT marketplace.
According to a report based on CNBC, Chinese mega tech unicorns are investing in the Metaverse. This is happening even though Beijing is cracking down on tech companies.
In order to look into this new type of technology, Chinese funds are being used. However, as the report stated, there are some issues. Finding a way to integrate the Metaverse is one of the major issues for most Chinese companies.
The Future of Social Networks
It seems that Metaverse will be the future of all social networks. In regard, China’s tech companies need to embrace it. This would be crucial to find new ways to reach the younger generation of internet users. Also, it is important because their business models on smartphones and mobile internet are already well-established. All this is according to Winston Ma, a managing partner at CloudTree Ventures.
Another report states that the government’s crackdown on tech companies has hurt local tech companies. Henceforth, companies are being more open to NFT platforms or startups that use their services.
On the other hand, WeChat has started taking down the accounts of NFT groups because they broke its rules on illegal trading. NFT platforms Xihu No. 1 and Dongyiyuandian are two of the most famous ones that shut down. Both of these companies said their accounts and apps were removed.
In the chain of reports, China has also banned cryptocurrencies and plans to build an NFT sector that is not related to crypto.