Beijing's E-Town to build XR district

Beijing's first policy dedicated to accelerating the extended reality (XR) intelligent terminal industry was released on Sunday, setting the stage for a 2-square-kilometer futuristic innovation hub rising next year adjacent to Tongming Lake in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-town.

One highlight of the initiative is a shared intelligent terminal factory offering concept verification, pilot production, and mid-scale manufacturing. Platforms providing such services may receive up to 50 million yuan ($7.07 million) in government support. Startups and small and medium-sized firms will also be eligible for service vouchers covering up to 20% of actual costs, capped at 1 million yuan.

The initiative will also launch a challenge-oriented program in the XR+AI field, offering up to 10 million yuan in funding for teams that deliver successful solutions. In addition, it will support the fast rollout of disruptive technologies by selecting early-stage, forward-looking innovation projects, and provide one-time grants of up to 2 million yuan.

The district will build on E-Town's complete XR ecosystem, now home to more than 100 key companies.

Alongside the policy release, Beijing E-town launched a smart glasses innovation platform that spans R&D, pilot lines, product testing, and commercialization.

Now, momentum is building as eight new XR industry projects, covering chips, materials, modules, devices, and application scenarios, signed agreements with Beijing E-town, representing a combined investment of 3 billion yuan.

By 2028, the district aims to cultivate more than five leading XR enterprises, create over 10 well-known terminal brands, achieve full coverage of over 10 key application scenarios, and expand the industry's total output to over 50 billion yuan, forming a world-class advanced manufacturing cluster for XR intelligent terminals.