BEIJING, Sept 18 (Reuters) – China’s Ministry of
Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)said on Monday that it
will form a working group to establish standards for the
metaverse sector as Beijing seeks to be a global
standards-setter for new technology.

The ministry released a draft proposal to form a working
group for the metaverse, shared virtual worlds accessible via
the internet, on Monday. The proposal said that the metaverse is
one of the nine emerging tech sectors which China should strive
to establish standards for.

The metaverse has become one of the hottest tech trends
since 2021, but there is yet to be consensus on what qualifies
as a metaverse despite the hype, an issue the MIIT highlighted
in the proposal.

“[The metaverse industry] faces many challenges,” the MIIT
said, “It is urgent to promote healthy and orderly development
of the metaverse industry through standardization and guidance.”

It added that the metaverse industry suffers from a lack of
clear definitions, which had allowed some capitalists and
companies to drum up speculation in the market.

The MIIT also described the metaverse as “an integrated
innovation combining various cutting-edge technologies”. It said
that the metaverse will spur many innovative business models,
new business opportunities and growth for the digital economy.
(Reporting by Josh Ye in Hong Kong and Beijing newsroom,
Editing by Louise Heavens and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)