Qingdao seeks business opportunities in Shenzhen

The 20th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair is currently underway in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. [Photo/Guanhai News]

China's largest cultural exhibition opened in Shenzhen, Guangdong province on May 23, attracting thousands of visitors from home and abroad. It is expected to showcase the nation's rich cultural products, advanced technologies and achievements in cultural industries and international cultural trade.

The 20th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair, which runs through May 27, has brought together, both online and offline, more than 6,000 delegations, cultural institutions and companies from 60 countries and regions.

A total of 12 cultural enterprises in the coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province are showcasing their latest cultural products at the Shandong pavilion during the major annual event, and 20 copyright demonstration enterprises from Qingdao participated in the exhibition titled "Copyright Empowering High-quality Development of Cities". In addition to Qingdao, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Tianjin, Suzhou, Langfang, and Mianyang, also participated in the exhibition.

This is also the first time Qingdao has set up an independent exhibition area at the cultural and creative industry expo. More than 20 copyright demonstration enterprises from the city showcased their flagship products and achievements in technological innovation.

In line with the trend of industry development, Qingdao has been focusing on stimulating cultural innovation through digitization in recent years. Particularly noteworthy is its acceleration of cross-border integration between copyright creativity and arts and crafts industries.

In recent years, Qingdao has attached great importance to the development of the cultural industry, continuously optimizing the industrial policy environment and forming a development pattern where film and television culture, music and performing arts, creative design, and digital culture advance together.

According to official data, in 2023, the city's cultural and related industries above designated levels achieved an operating income of 168.53 billion yuan ($23.27 billion), ranking first in the province.

Qingdao has been recognized by the State Council as part of the first batch of cities encouraged in the cultural and tourism industries and one of the first national demonstration bases for the integration of culture and technology and honored by UNESCO as China's first "City of Film". The West Coast New Area of Qingdao was selected as part of the first batch of construction units for national demonstration zones for the integrated development of the cultural and tourism industries. The city has over 30,000 cultural enterprises.