China’s Suzhou city joins other regions in the country seeking to be metaverse hub

Suzhou, a city of 12 million people in China’s Jiangsu Province, released a plan on Wednesday to become a hub for metaverse development and innovation, aiming to attract more than 200 companies working in the virtual reality technology industry by 2025.

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Fast facts

• Suzhou will build 30 exemplary metaverse application scenarios by 2025, focusing on the areas of healthcare, tourism, education, and city administration. The city has not disclosed the budget for its plan.

• It targets metaverse-related industries to be worth 200 billion yuan (US$29.77 billion) by 2025, though it will have plenty of competition in China.

• Shanghai, the country’s financial capital, also plans to develop metaverse industries and launched its first metaverse industrial fund in December 2022, which aims to raise 1 billion yuan (US$149 million).

• Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Jinan, and the provinces of Zhejiang and Henan have all published plans for metaverse development.

• Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is also focused on metaverse development and aims to be in the top five nations in the field by 2026. It has started what it calls Metaverse Seoul to start providing services on the digital platform to residents of the capital city.

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