Building a metaverse with Chinese characteristics
The Communist Party may see it as an area in which it can beat the West
THE YEAR is 2035. You are walking along the Bund, Shanghai’s storied waterfront, with two of your old classmates, pointing out how much has changed since the last time you were here 20 years ago. You almost joke about how the only thing that never changes is Xi Jinping being in power, but you think better of it. Someone might be listening. A message flashes in your glasses, and you say hurried goodbyes. The landscape of the Bund dissolves into the fantasy realm of a multiplayer game, where three friends in magical armour are waiting, swords at the ready.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Virtual state of control”
From the February 5th 2022 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from China
It’s a good time to be an astrologer in China
In the face of hardship, the country’s youth are embracing superstition
The early days of the Trump administration, as viewed from China
A good start, but it could get worse quickly
How (un)popular is China’s Communist Party?
As the economy falters and the social compact frays, Xi Jinping wants to know
An outrage that even China’s supine media has called out
Anger is growing over a form of detention linked to torture and deaths
Why foreign law firms are leaving China
A number of them are in motion to vacate
An initiative so feared that China has stopped saying its name
“Made in China 2025” has been a success, but at what cost?