Baidu CEO Robin Li hosts the company's annual developer's conference in its metaverse, known as "XiRang." Credit: Baidu
China has joined the global race to develop the metaverse. But as with the internet itself, the Chinese version could end up looking very different from the one envisioned by Western companies.
The emergence of the world wide web in the 1990s led to predictions that it could accelerate a process of opening up and democratization in China. Instead, the country’s authorities created the so-called Great Firewall of China, inside which politically sensitive content is restricted from the internet, and local tech companies are largely protected from foreign competition.
The metaverse — a computer generated, interactive virtual reality space where people will be able to shop, attend concerts or sports events — is still in its early stages, with full development potentially five to ten years away. But experts predict the combination of tight regulation, promotion of local firms and the use of the country’s own digital currency will lead to a similar separation between the metave
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