According to the Annual of Contemporary Art of China 2021, The hottest topic in 2021 was non-fungible tokens, digital assets, including images and video clips, which are represented by unique codes and secured using blockchain technology. The technology can track the ownership and validity of each NFT when it is bought or sold.

In 2021, when digital artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, took the art world by storm after his NFT, titled Everydays: The First 5,000 Days, sold for more than $69 million at an auction at Christie's, Chinese artists warmly embraced the new art form. Shows and sessions based on NFT-related topics were thus widely organized. Several digital art auctions were also held in Beijing and Shanghai.

Apart from blockchain, artificial intelligence, biological science, materials science and other cutting-edge technologies are employed by artists to create artworks, writes the Annual.