A wide view of the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone. [Photo/xuexi.cn]

The Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone – located in Hefei, the provincial capital of East China's Anhui province – issued an action plan on the development of its metaverse industry on Feb 14. This incorporates the concept of the metaverse into its future industrial development strategy and mapped out detailed plans for the zone to become a metaverse industry innovation hub.

As one of the key emerging digital industries, the metaverse provides a fully immersive, persistent virtual world where, with the help of high-tech goggles and other quipment, people can interact, work and play while posing as online avatars of their real-world selves. 

Song Daojun, director of the Hefei high-tech zone's administrative committee, delivers a speech on Feb 14. [Photo/WeChat ID: hefeigaoxinfabu]

"We'll promote the rapid development of the metaverse industry and accelerate the integration of technology and industry by taking advantage of our strong sci-tech resources, leading technologies, and solid industrial foundation," said Song Daojun, director of the zone's administrative committee.

According to the action plan, the Hefei high-tech zone is expected to make major breakthroughs in the metaverse industry, cultivate a batch of leading enterprises, technologies and advanced products, as well as create industrial clusters and characteristic metaverse industrial parks by 2028.

In terms of industrial clusters, the scale of metaverse-related industries will exceed 80 billion yuan ($11.67 billion) in the zone by 2028, according to the action plan.

Plans are afoot for Hefei high-tech zone to ensure the implementation of the plan in detail, including setting up a metaverse work team and special policy systems.