Chinese traditional entertainment industry embraces digitalization

China's traditional entertainment industry is exploring new ways of digitalization to meet public demands and promote online consumption.

An edition of a classic Chinese Peking Opera shot in 4K high definition will make its debut online via 5G technology on Feb 12, the first day of the Chinese Lunar Year of the Ox.

The cloud performance, organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT), National Peking Opera Company and an entertainment subsidiary of the country's leading telecom operator China Mobile, will be broadcast on several video-sharing platforms.

Gao Zheng, an official with the MCT, said the cloud performance integrates stage art with information technologies, focuses more on audience interaction, and exploits online payment as a new profit model for the entertainment industry.

Digital technologies, including 5G and virtual reality, have sped up the transformation of China's traditional performance art industry. Meanwhile, public demands are increasing with fewer performances staged at bricks-and-mortar theaters amid the COVID-19 epidemic.

A huge market of cloud performance with great potential is taking shape in China, home to more than 540 million paid subscribers online, showed statistics from the National Radio and Television Administration.