A Chinese industry group that was created with the aim of expanding the country’s metaverse applications has added a new set of firms to the body so that it can more aggressively pursue its aim of catching up on the latest technology fad.  

The term “metaverse” has yet to be defined accurately. But the term is frequently mentioned to denote new technologies such as virtual reality and the concept that people in the future could ultimately play and live completely in virtual worlds.

The metaverse committee that has been created by the state-backed China Mobile Communications Association added another 17 companies to its list on Wednesday. The industry body is made up of 112 companies or individuals.

Inly Media, which trades in Shanghai, and Beijing Topnew Info & Tech, which trades in Shenzhen, are among the latest round of publicly traded companies to be included in the industry body.

The China Mobile Communication Association is funded by major technology companies including Huawei and telecoms operator China Mobile and is registered with the foreign affairs ministry of China.

Its metaverse committee was formed in October last year and is responsible for developing metaverse standards and technology. China frequently forms such committees around technology that it wishes to develop swiftly and become a global leader in, such as in blockchain.

The formation of the metaverse committee could also indicate that China is attempting to govern the technology as it evolves.

“Traditional Chinese internet businesses developed first and were then regulated. Industries like the metaverse will be regulated as they are built,” Du Zhengping, head of the China Mobile Communications Association’s metaverse industry committee, told Reuters in January.

Similar to the strategy adopted by technology giants in the United States, a number of Chinese tech companies – including the likes of Tencent and Alibaba, are all exploring the options and opportunities of developing their own metaverse applications.

However, according to predictions of analysts and experts, the development of the metaverse in China is most likely to be regulated heavily by the government and it is not likely to include cryptocurrency in the applications since the authorities of the country have adopted a tough stance against the digital currency industry.

(Adapted from CNBC.com)

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