A digital reality metaverse in which industries interact virtually via social media, online gaming, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and cryptocurrencies is to be created by the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin and Chimelong Group.

Pilot construction of a Metaverse Super Testing Ground, which will provide a highly immersive virtual world where people gather to socialize, play, and work, was announced July 26 at a high-level seminar in the Hengqin Chimelong International Conference Center.

During the incubation stage of local metaverse industries, the Metaverse Super Testing Ground will be constructed by the Cooperation Zone and Chimelong Group will provide a 3,000-sqm (3/4-acre) Metaverse Technology Exhibition Hall. Related application products will be encouraged to converge, exhibit, integrate, and iterate at Chimelong.

The testing ground will offer threshold-free technology exchange with government support as well as a technical feasibility verification platform by market-oriented means. Envisioned is a cross-enterprise, industry, and regional collaborative incubation platform that will facilitate large-scale replications and promote commercial models.

Hengqin Metaverse Discovery Road High-Level Seminar [Photo courtesy Administrative Affairs Bureau of Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin]

Li Ziwei, acting director of the Cooperation Zone Economic Development Bureau, said interdisciplinary characteristics of the metaverse are highly consistent with development orientation of the four major industries in Hengqin: sci-tech R&D; high-end manufacturing; brand industries like TCM, culture, tourism, convention and exhibition; and modern finance. 

Next-generation internet industry clusters and international digital trade hub ports will be constructed, and digital upgrades of other industries will be realized, Li added. He said Hengqin departments will cooperate with high-quality enterprise resources and industrial experts to promote the metaverse and provide industrial services. 

Hengqin can cultivate relevant industries, attract high-quality enterprise resources, and build a regional and international metaverse portal base consistent with its own advantages and characteristics, noted Zhu Jiaming, who chairs the Academic Committee of Hengqin Digital Finance Research Institute.

Given the background of deepened Hengqin-Macao integration and enrichment of the "One Country, Two Systems" practice, Hengqin can develop metaverse industries with international scientific research resources from Macao, huge cultural and tourism markets, and digital economy and hi-tech resources from the Greater Bay Area, said Zhu.  

Deputy director of the Cooperation Zone Executive Committee Nie Xinping, a special work group of Hengqin officials, and 12 experts carried out in-depth discussions and exchanges on developing metaverse industries in Hengqin from the aspects of orientation, industrial patterns, technical characteristics, and application scenarios.

Next, the Cooperation Zone will center on culture, tourism, convention, and exhibition industries, high-end manufacturing, and “Smart City.” It will formulate construction plans, technical routes and timetables, and construct an innovative metaverse platform integrating technical innovations, converged applications, user experiences, and rulemaking, said Nie.

Located in the fore of national strategy, the Cooperation Zone’s decision to support metaverse industries is technologically sensitive and forward-looking. In line with the Overall Development Plan for Construction of the Cooperation Zone, a tailored three-year action plan for the developing metaverse industries will be rolled out with Hengqin characteristics. Measures will also be released to promote such industries while providing institutional guarantee.

Deputy directors of the Cooperation Zone Executive Committee Fu Yongge and Su Kun participated in the event.