Shanghai furthers creative cultural co-op with Taiwan

The first Cross-Straits (Shanghai-Taiwan) Youth Cultural and Creative Forum takes place in Shanghai on May 27. [Photo by Miao Lu/chinanews.com]

The first Cross-Straits (Shanghai-Taiwan) Youth Cultural and Creative Forum took place in Shanghai on May 27, with the goal of furthering cooperation in the creative cultural industry between Shanghai and Taiwan.

The forum served as a platform for young people on both sides of the Straits to exchange and share creative cultural ideas and successful experiences.

Li Wei, deputy inspector of Shanghai's Taiwan Affairs Office, said that the creative cultural industry is an important driving force for regional development. 

Li also revealed that Shanghai now has 12,488 Taiwan-funded companies, of which only a small proportion work in the creative cultural industry, but their products enjoy a higher fame and reputation than other companies in the industry.

Shanghai's creative cultural industry is entering its golden era. Its value added in 2017 exceeded 370 billion yuan ($53.63b), accounting for more than 12 percent of the city's GDP.

The city announced 50 measures to boost the creative cultural industry last year, all of which will lay a solid foundation for the growth of cross-straits creative cultural start-ups, according to Li Cheng-hung, head of Shanghai Association of Taiwan.

The Maikejiang Creative Cultural Park, located in Shanghai's Minhang district, is an ideal location for young people for both sides of the Straits to exchange ideas on the creative cultural industry. Its predecessor was a traditional Taiwan apparel manufacturer, which moved into the creative culture industry after two decades' development in Shanghai.

Lien T'ai-jui, general manager of the park, said that Shanghai and Taiwan are fitting partners in the creative cultural industry because Shanghai aspires for talents in the industry, while the talents are surplus in Taiwan. Therefore, they can seek mutual cooperation to achieve common development.