The total value of China’s virtual reality market will likely exceed 55 billion yuan ($8.3 billion) by 2020, according to CCID, a Beijing-based think tank.

With VR facilities reaching 8.2 million and the number of VR users surpassing 25 million, China’s VR market will account for 34.6 percent of the world’s total, CCID forecasted. The organization said that revenue in the sector will reach $10 billion globally this year.

The VR industry began to grow in 2016, and has been applied to a wide range of areas, including military, space and aviation, equipment manufacturing, medical science, education, tourism, e-commerce, and other sectors close to people’s life, said Zhao Qinping from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a member of the Industry of Virtual Reality Alliance, China’s first government-endorsed VR industry alliance.

The government pays close attention to advancing VR technologies. In May 2016, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council released an innovation-driven development strategy to enhance research on VR technologies and apply VR to more industries.

A document to promote the healthy and orderly development of the internet released in January also stressed to step up efforts to develop key technologies such as VR, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality.

Talent shortages and lack of technologies for sustainable innovation are two difficulties to address, among others, Zhao said, adding that some start-ups are in need of policy and financial support from governments to attract more talents and investment and improve management.