BEIJING — China's virtual reality (VR) industry attracted strong investment and financing last year as market players raced to tap the burgeoning high-tech sector.

The scale of investment and financing in VR more than doubled in 2021, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Currently there are over 10,000 VR-related firms in China, pushing the technology's applications into various scenarios in industry, culture, and education, among others.

Earlier this month, China unveiled a plan to boost the industry's development, aiming to expand its market scale to over 350 billion yuan (about $49.4 billion) by 2026.

The plan aims to cultivate 100 top enterprises with strong innovation ability and industry influence, while also aiming to increase the sales of VR to over 25 million units.