(Yicai Global) Sept. 9 -- Shares of Chinese media companies, including Zqgame and Jinke Tom Culture Industry, jumped after they sought to tap into the trend of games in which players can explore virtual reality worlds as avatars.

Jinke's stock price [SHE: 300052] rose as much as 9.9 percent to CNY4.46 (70 US dollar cents) intraday but closed only 0.5 percent up as the firm's new direction was questioned by the Shenzhen bourse.

The Shenzhen Stock Exchange asked Jinke to explain the relevance of the concept of metaverse with the firm's main business and products, according to an inquiry the bourse sent to the Hangzhou-based television program producer yesterday.

Other metaverse enthusiasts were also surging. Game developer Zqgame [SHE: 300052] climbed 14.3 percent to CNY13.50 (USD2.10) today. Software maker Shunwang Technology [SHE: 300113] was 1.3 percent down at CNY13.37 after rising about 20 percent yesterday.

Many companies are rushing to register trademarks that include the trendy term. More than 20 Chinese companies have submitted their applications since June, according to Tianyancha.

The latest craze started with a big name. On Sept. 3, Tencent Holdings applied for two trademarks, Wangzhe Metaverse and Timi Metaverse, according to corporate information platform Tianyancha. Timi is a gaming studio under Tencent and Wangzhe is a word from the Chinese version of Timi's game Arena of Valor. The application is pending review.

Tencent has been trying to find its way to the metaverse for a while. In February 2020, the internet company participated in game creation platform Roblox's USD150 million Series G round of funding. Meanwhile, Tencent became the American company's Chinese agent.

California-headquartered Roblox, which allows developers to come up with their own 3D and VR content, went public on the New York Stock Exchange in March. Its shares are almost 20 percent up since then.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi