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Across industries, the metaverse has the potential to transform the customer experience. From central government to local authorities, tech giants, and consumer-focused brands, all have shown growing interest in the space. With plans to lead the global metaverse sector, many government institutions, including in China, have launched a fund to support startups innovating in the space and to kick-start research centers. On the other hand, Chinese tech giants, such as Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu, are also investing heavily in the development of innovative metaverse projects.
In the online shopping space, e-commerce firms are seeking to leverage the capabilities of the metaverse to transform the shopping experience for consumers in China. JD.com, for instance, launched a digital shopping platform wherein customers can step into the virtual environment to explore products such as household goods and furniture. The online retailer partnered with more than 1,000 brands and launched 3D models for over 100,000 products across different categories.
Tmall, on the other hand, collaborated with offline furniture retailers to launch 10,000 3D model houses in China. The models allow customers to place the furniture in their homes before making the purchase decision. Alibaba Group also launched a shopping experience for its customers in the metaverse on the Tmall Luxury Pavilion platform in September 2022. Further innovating in the space, Alibaba is planning to launch a metaverse live streaming channel on its e-commerce platform Taobao.
Along with JD.com and Alibaba Group, Meituan, Pinduoduo, and Kuaishou are among the other e-commerce platforms that are investing and innovative in the space in China. With more brands planning to launch metaverse experiences for their customers, Chinese tech giants are also launching metaverse solutions, catering to the demand among brands in China.
A lot of innovation is taking place in the Chinese metaverse sector and the government has also rolled out favorable policies to further drive the growth of the sector. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology along with other ministries, for instance, released the plan to integrate virtual reality technology into industrial applications in November 2022. Government bodies in Beijing, Shanghai, and others have announced plans for the metaverse sector, as they seek to gain an early advantage in the global metaverse market.
Zhejiang Province in China also announced its plans to build a US$28.7 billion metaverse industry by 2025. With the growing investment in the space, from both the public as well as the private sector, the Chinese metaverse industry is emerging as a hotbed of innovation. Growth in the Chinese e-commerce sector has slowed down for many players, including Alibaba, amid the crackdown launched by Beijing on tech giants in 2021. To revive their growth, these tech giants are projected to seek new avenues of growth, including in the metaverse space from the short to medium-term perspective.
While e-commerce giants, including Tencent, Alibaba, and JD.com, are projected to keep developing new metaverse platforms and services, the involvement of the national and local authorities in the space is expected to accelerate the development of metaverse infrastructure in China over the next three to four years.
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