Amid resurgent COVID-19 cases, virtual reality funding in China has reportedly more than doubled in 2021. Government data suggests that the Chinese government is increasing its support for the relatively young industry.
Chinese VR Industry Reports Funding Boom
The South China Morning Post reports that technology agencies in Beijing pointed out that fundraising and investment volume is observing a major boom, pushing the Chinese VR sector into a new period of "explosive" growth.
This was stated by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) official Wang Jiangping at the country's virtual reality conference that was held last Saturday, Nov. 12. The said event has been held every year in the southeastern city of Nanchang since 2018.
Chinese research firm Tuoluo Research, as reported by SCMP, found that funding, merger, and acquisition activity in China's VR and augmented reality (AR) industry totaled US$871 million in the first half of 2022, up 67% from the same period last year.
The statement from the Chinese official comes after China's six-fold industrial action plan, a first for the nation's VR industry, was released earlier this month by MIIT and other government organizations.
By 2026, this action plan hopes to have shipped more than 25 million mixed-reality devices, which will have cost over $48.20 billion, according to reports.
According to Reuters, the plan also includes raising the industry's overall value to more than 350 billion yuan, which the ministries claim includes hardware and software sales.
China will also need to create 10 public service platforms for the industry and nurture 100 core companies by 2026, based on the report.
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MIIT and other Chinese government organizations see virtual reality as a key sector of the nation's digital economy.
Increasing Government Support
As reported by Nextrendasia, the Chinese government's continued commitment to ensuring that new technologies such as virtual reality are a part of the country's latest round of scientific and industrial revolution has undoubtedly been a key factor in China's vigorous VR/AR push.
Along with the government, China's tech juggernauts Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, and Xiaomi have all expressed interest in VR/AR. Each has started its own projects to advance the technology for different uses, such as mobile VR, online shopping, immersive video, and gaming.
It is probable that China will keep leading the development of VR/AR technologies and applications because of the government's broad support, the availability of significant funding, and the involvement of some of the biggest tech companies in the world.
Could China achieve technological independence as a result of these developments, given that the US wants to stifle regional advancements by enacting export restrictions?
CSET Director Dewey Murdick says China has used a variety of government powers in an effort to dominate key technology areas and that the United States must do more to comprehend the scope of this effort and counter it.
