A creative approach to development

Changsha embraces its status as a key hub for multimedia, innovative industries

The global spotlight shone on Changsha, capital of Central China's Hunan province, last Friday when insights and experience on developing a sustainable creative city were shared at a forum of the 3rd UNESCO Creative Cities Beijing Summit.

In 2017, the city was granted membership of the Creative Cities Network launched by the UNESCO.

It was also recognized as a City of Media Arts at the same time, which is a singular honor for Changsha as the first city in China awarded the prestigious title.

Making the creative industries a future citywide development strategy, Changsha has recorded many eye-catching achievements in recent years and enjoyed a rising global influence.

"Joining the UNESCO network and receiving the title meant that the city's efforts in independent innovation, cultural creativity and the media arts have received global recognition, enabling it to make more contributions in these sectors on the international stage," said Hu Henghua, Party secretary of Changsha.

Liu Mingli, vice-mayor of Changsha, said that, with a history of over 3,000 years, Changsha is known for its rich culture, beautiful landscape and development dynamics.

Currently, Changsha is a hot spot for the development of innovative new types of fireworks, media arts and creative culture.

Last year, a multimedia art event showcasing Changsha's thousands of years old tradition and culture with the help of modern technologies astonished the world.

It was presented during the Changsha Media Arts Festival and International Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage Along the Silk Road, which was held from March 31 to April 3, 2019.

The artwork displayed some of the most time-honored and iconic examples of local culture, including the round-backed armchairs at the Yuelu Academy and ancient porcelain produced in the Changsha Tongguan Kiln, with the use of holographic projection, drone programming and light and water displays.

The program was designed by TVZone Media, a leading media arts company located in the Malanshan Video, Cultural and Creative Industrial Park.

The park, which was established in December 2017, is now home to more than 1,000 companies specializing in digital video, game development, animation, digital publishing and cultural tourism, and generates an output value of more than 40 billion yuan ($5.9 billion) a year.

On June 28, a groundbreaking and signing ceremony for 23 projects was held in the park, with total investment reaching 12.58 billion yuan.

Although the park has a small size, covering an area of less than 16 square kilometers, it has ambitious goals of becoming China's largest production site of digital content, a national digital copyright trading center, a birthplace of advanced video technologies and a gathering of top-tier video talent.

With its creative city status acting as a "business card", Changsha is paying close attention to international communications and cooperation in the sector.

Last November, the IEF International E-sports Festival－the world's first international e-sports event－kicked off in the city, attracting 148 players from 12 countries including China, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

They participated in a range of activities such as an e-sports competition, forums and exhibitions. For traditional industries, Changsha has combined their development with media arts and developed several merging creative industries, which are now becoming the most dynamic part of the city's economy during its industrial transformation and upgrade.