The municipal government of Beijing plans to train 10,000 engineering talents each year in emerging technologies including blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, Chinese state media Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.

See related article: China to set up national blockchain technology research center in Beijing

Fast facts

  • The decision came from a government document filed by the Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau on July 7. The bureau is an administrator of developments of the city’s workforce.
  • The document laid out an implementation plan to cultivate digital technology talents in Beijing. Apart from a training quota, the bureau also plans to revise its talent evaluation system to allow technical professionals to acquire qualifications in emerging areas including blockchain, AI, virtual reality and cloud computing.
  • The plan comes as Beijing ramps up initiatives in Web 3.0 – the next iteration of the internet based on technologies like blockchain, metaverse and non-fungible tokens. The city also released its Web3 whitepaper in May. 
  • At a Web3 summit on July 6, Beijing’s municipal government announced the construction of the Beijing Metaverse Innovation Center, a government-supported organization to support metaverse research, development and adoption in the city.

See related article: Back to the physical: China metaverse seeks to boost real-world economy