Yuanyuzhou 元宇宙: yesterday, today, tomorrow. Historical roots, current visions, and future dynamics of real-world integration in the Chinese governmental narrative on the Metaverse

As one of the most searched buzzwords on the Chinese Internet in 2021, the ‘Metaverse' (yuan yuzhou 元宇宙) has gained significant momentum in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), attracting the attention of entrepreneurs, politicians, and scholars. To contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon, the present paper provides a historical overview of the Metaverse, highlighting, through a de-Westernized lens, the peculiarities of its development within the specific historical and political context of the PRC. For this purpose, it combines a historical approach with qualitative thematic analysis, examining the Chinese official discourse on the Metaverse, mainly through the scrutiny of governmental papers. Specifically, this study tries to answer the question of how the Chinese official narrative on the Metaverse is being constructed and how it is evolving. In doing so, the essay starts by reconstructing the pre-history of the Chinese Metaverse; then, it focuses on the analysis of plans and action schemes implemented both at the central and national levels, especially in the municipality of Shanghai. The analysis demonstrates how the development of the Chinese Metaverse is in line with previous development goals of the government digital agenda and how its implementation is at the crossroads of technological-cultural progress, regulatory control, and ideological challenges.