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
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
Increasingly, Democrats and Republicans believe that climate change and China pose a single interconnected challenge. As a result — and for the first time ever — a window is opening for bipartisan cooperation on climate policy. Historically progressive ideas like a 'carbon border adjustment mechanism' now have conservative champions, for instance. But with Washington's main focus on the Warming War with China, can it still save the planet?
A look at China’s electricity grid: how it works, who foots the bill, and how its structure leads to power crunches and expensive prices despite the relative abundance of energy in China.
The academic talks about the changing understanding of Leninist regimes; common misperceptions of the post-Mao era; and what the collapse of the Soviet Union means for China today.
