The Qingtian new generation overseas Chinese metaverse project is launched. [Photo/Tide News]

The first China-Europe Design Innovation Forum was held on April 18 at the China-Italy Design Innovation Base of Tsinghua University, in the city of Milan in Italy.

Lin Xia, Party secretary of Qingtian county – administered by Lishui city in East China's Zhejiang province – attended the opening ceremony of the forum, where the Qingtian new generation overseas Chinese metaverse project was officially launched.

Lin said overseas Chinese people were Qingtian's biggest feature. The county had 380,000 overseas Chinese scattered in 146 countries and regions, of whom more than 100,000 overseas Chinese had settled in Italy to pursue entrepreneurship and business development.

Lin said the metaverse project aimed to create a virtual space for young overseas Chinese to connect with their ancestral culture and homeland through immersive technologies – such as virtual reality and augmented reality.

It's expected the project will also provide opportunities for cultural exchanges, innovation and entrepreneurship for young people from China and Italy.

Tsinghua University and the Polytechnic University of Milan are viewed as being important strategic partners. The two sides have leveraged their respective strengths and advantages to jointly build a China-Italy Design Innovation Base, which is one of Tsinghua University's four overseas bases for conducting its global strategy.

Shen Yang, professor and director of the Metaverse Culture Laboratory of Tsinghua's School of Journalism and Communication and Chinese Online, presented an overview and the vision behind the Qingtian new generation overseas Chinese metaverse project to the opening ceremony.