October 13, 2011

 

Friends from the media, ladies and gentlemen: Good afternoon!

 

The 6^th China (Beijing) International Cultural & Creative Industry Expo (ICCIE), which is jointly hosted by the Ministry of Culture, the State Administration of Radio Film and Television, General Administration of Press and Publication and the Beijing Municipal People’s Government, is to be held from November 9^th to 13^th in Beijing. Now, entrusted by the organizing committee, I will give a brief introduction to friends from the news media and other guests present here about the overall arrangements and preparations for the current ICCIE.

 

The China (Beijing) International Cultural & Creative Industry Expo (ICCIE) has been successfully held for five consecutive years. As the only large-scale international trade and cultural exchange event regularly held every year in Beijing that takes cultural creativity as the theme, the ICCIE has become an important window to gather the cultural and creative resources at home and abroad, carry out industrial cooperation and product trading, gain insights into the movements and trends of the industry, and lead the development of the industry. It has formed Beijing characteristics, Chinese style and oriental manner in such aspects as tapping the cultural and creative content, promoting cultural and technological integration, and improving the level of cultural innovation. With its authority and attractiveness, it has also established its unique brand influence in the national structure of convention economy. The previous five sessions of ICCIE attracted a total of 252 governmental and industrial delegations from such international organizations as the United Nations, European Union, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Olympic Committee, the World Association of Animation, as well as more than 60 countries and regions, about 4050 overseas professionals in all, to conduct cultural exchanges and discuss cooperation. More than 10,000 domestic and international cultural and creative enterprises and institutions showcased and introduced their outstanding cultural products with distinctive local characteristics. More than 1000 well-known experts, academics and senior government authorities who are influential in the cultural and creative circles both at home and abroad delivered speeches at the ICCIE forums. According to incomplete statistics, a total of 1347 cooperative agreements were signed at the previous sessions of ICCIE, with a total amount of 177.7 billion yuan.

 

The 6^th ICCIE is a grand assembly and overall review of China’s cultural and creative industries when the “12^th Five-year Plan” has explicitly put forward the strategic objective of promoting the cultural industry to become a pillar industry in the national economy, and the curtain has been raised for the era of realizing the rapid development of China’s cultural and creative industries. Taking “Integrating culture with technology for an innovation-driven development” as its theme, the current ICCIE will highlight the latest achievements of China’s reform in the cultural system and cultural innovation, and display in a comprehensive manner China's original cultural brands and the development trend of the emerging cultural formats featuring the integrated development of culture and technology and of culture and creativity, which are “driven by two wheels” of cultural innovation and technological innovation. It will hold deep-going discussions on the system and institutional innovation and the development path of cultural and creative industries with Chinese characteristics. It will also strengthen the market platform function of ICCIE in gathering industrial factors and integrating and optimizing industrial resources, so as to promote the landing of cultural and creative industrial projects and cultural trade, and boost the transformation and upgrading of cultural industries and their technological innovation.

 

The main exhibition venue of the 6^th ICCIE is at China International Exhibition Center, and 13 sub-venues will be established in the city, with its activities spread to more than 40 convention sites. Its activities cover the six series of comprehensive activities, exhibitions, forums and summit conferences, trade promotions, creative activities, and sub-venue activities.

 

（1）      Exhibitions

The main venue is at China International Exhibition Center with a total area of 55,000 square meters. It will set up 17 thematic pavilions, including construction achievement of “Culture-enriched Beijing”; radio, film and television; press, publication and copyright trade; creative design; animated cartoon games; cultural tourism; antiquities and museums; arts and crafts; galleries and works of art trade; sports industry; cultural and creative industries of various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities; international cultural creation; quality products of cultural creation from Taiwan; cultural and creative industries clustering zones; young people’s cultural creation;; and innovative achievements.

 

(2) Sub-venue activities

The current ICCIE will set up 13 themed sub-venues, with a total area of 125,000 square meters, the largest in ICCIE history. They include the 9^th China International Expo of Internet Culture; the 12^th World Cartoon Conference and 2011 Beijing International Comic Animation Week; Global University Creation Expo; China (Beijing) Gift Trading Conference; the 7^th Anniversary 2011 Exhibition of Chinese Realist School Paintings; Taihu International Book Fair; the first 798 International Engraving Arts Fair; Art in China—National Art Exhibition; 2011 International Exhibition of Original Contemporary Metal Art; etc. At the same time, dozens of themed cultural and creative activities will be held in more than 20 venues in Haidian, Chaoyang, Fengtai and Pinggu Districts.

 

（3）Forums and summit conferences

Adhering to the concept of quality and professionalism, the current ICCIE will hold a main forum and 6 sub-forums. The main forum will be “the International Forum on the Development of China’s Cultural and Creative Industries”. The 6 sub-forums are: “2011 Forum on Cultural and Creative Industries and Urban Brand”; “Forum on the Development of Radio, Film and Television”; “Beijing International Copyright Forum”; “Forum on Museums and Urban Cultural Development”; “2011 Beijing Sports Industry Development Forum”; “Forum on the Development of Clustering Zones for Cultural and Creative Industries in Beijing”. Authoritative personnel from international organizations and government departments and domestic and international experts and scholars from relevant industries will be invited to conduct face-to-face communication and discussion with the participants on the hot spots in different sectors.

 

(4) Trade promotions

The current ICCIE will witness a substantial increase in the number of trade promotion activities and further strengthening of the trading function of the   cultural and creative industries. A total of 16 special project trade promotions will be held, including Promotion of Cultural and Creative Industry Projects and Cooperation in Resource Development; Trading and Agreement Signing of Animation Games Industry Projects; Promotion and Agreement Signing of Beijing Key Cultural and Creative Industry Projects; Fair on Cross-strait Opportunities in Urban Cultural and Creative Industries; Promotion of 2011 (Fall) Capital City TV Programs; Promotion of 2011 Sports Industry Projects; Art Licensing Trade Fair; Promotion of Cultural Trading Policies and Projects; 2011 Beijing • China Cultural Relics International Fair; Promotion of Demonstration Areas of the Application of Energy Saving and Emission Reduction Technology and Low Carbon Tourism of the National Tourist Industry; 2011 Beijing Fair of Banks and Enterprises for Cultural and Creative Industries; Promotion of Beijing Cultural and Creative Industry Investment and Financing Projects; Beijing series of events in 2011 auction season; 2011 Beijing International Exhibition Fair for Audio Equipment, the 6^th Recruitment Fair for Cultural and Creative Talents; and series of cultural and creative industry project promotions by some provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

 

(5) Creative activities

The current ICCIE will hold more creative activities with richer contents and covering wide areas and extensive social involvement. It will hold 14 sessions of creative activities, including series of Sino-U.S. cultural exchange activities; 2011 "Huali (China Gifts) Award" of China International Gifts and Leisure Products Design Competition; Presentation Ceremony of 2011 China Red Star Award for Innovative Design; China New Media Grand Ceremony and the 4^th Festival of New Media; 2011 China 3D Technology and Innovation Expo; 2011 National High-end Conference of Cultural and Creative Industries; 2011 Beijing College Student Creativity Fair; Original Music Competition by Beijing College Students; the first Arts and Crafts Innovative Design Competition; Design My Life—the TV Awards Presentation Ceremony of the 1^st Beijing International Design Competition; 2011 Beijing Youth’s Cultural and Creative Festival; 2011 Competition of Beijing New Rural Youth’s Cultural and Creative Works; Industrial Tourism—Entering Beijing’s Manufacturing Industry, and Poetic China—Mid-Autumn International Original Poetry Event at China Millennium Monument.

 

With a prominent theme, following the times and taking the situational advantages, and being close to the needs of the cultural industry, to the people’s demand of cultural consumption, and to the international cultural market demand, the 6^th ICCIE has rich and practical contents, diverse and innovative forms, and distinctive features.

 

1. Gathering the world's cultural and creative resources and highlighting its authority and features of a grand international event

 

International professional organizations, the central ministries, and national-level sector organizations, as well as provincial and municipal governments take an active part in the current ICCIE. They jointly set up the stage, and further strengthen the positioning of national-level activities and internationalized orientation of development, highlighting the development trend of China's cultural and creative industries actively integrating into the world. “The 9^th China International Expo of Internet Culture” hosted by 7 central ministries including the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; “China (Beijing) Gift Trading Conference” supported by China Light Industry Federation; “2011 National High-end Conference of Cultural and Creative Industries” hosted by China Copyright Protection Center; “Promotion of Cultural and Creative Industry Projects and Cooperation in Resource Development” hosted by Copyright Society of China and China ACG Group Inc.; and “International Exhibition Fair for Audio Equipment” hosted by China Electronics Association, gather together the advantageous resources of related industries from home and abroad and internationally well-known cultural brand products.

 

“The 12^th World Cartoon Conference and 2011 Beijing International Comic Animation Week”, which is included in the ICCIE sub-venues, is a grand high-end gathering of international comic book industry co-sponsored by the comics industry organizations of Japan, Korea and China’s mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. There, 3000 pieces of world-famous comics and award winning cartoons of Chinese Comic Award will be put on display. Excellent cartoonists from around the world will work with domestic comics and comic animation masters to explore the innovative and sustainable development of comics. At the same time, such activities as face-to-face meetings with animation artists, animation theatrical performances, cyber ​​games, and the trade promotion of new animation game products will be held. At “the series of Sino-U.S. cultural exchange activities” hosted by Chinese People's Friendship Association and the American Association of Asia, dozens of influential Chinese and American film and television directors, performers, artists, musicians, etc. will conduct professional communications and discussions. “The Global University Creation Expo”, which is hosted by China Education Television and held at the ICCIE for the first time, will gather outstanding creative teams from universities nationwide and global university graduates’ design works to build a platform for the display, exchange and trading in the field of cultural creation for global university students. The Exhibition of Quality Products of Cultural Creation from Taipei, which has participated in the ICCIE for five consecutive years, will be expanded to “the Pavilion of Quality Products from Taiwan”. More than 90 representative cultural and creative enterprises from all over Taiwan will bring creative ideas with their own characteristics to find cooperative partners.

 

2. Promoting original cultural products in a big way and highlighting the innovative characteristics of integrating culture, technology and creation

 

The current ICCIE will display strong colors of the fusion of culture and technology, and of culture and creation. New cultural products and formats, which are injected with modern technology and creative elements, constitute the main body of the exhibition. The pavilions of radio, film and television; press and publication; animated cartoon games; creative design; and sports industry located in the main venue, and “China International Expo of Internet Culture” and “China 3D Technology and Innovation Expo” in the sub-venues will put on display in a concentrated manner a number of brand-new cultural formats and high-tech cultural products which came into being owing to the close integration of culture and high technology. The pavilions of cultural tourism, arts and crafts, antiquities and museums, creative gifts, galleries and works of art trade, and city sculptures, while displaying exquisite traditional cultural works, will highlight new cultural products which are led by creation, and showing succession, development and cross-sector integration.

 

Boosting the creative wisdom, fostering a creative atmosphere, and facilitating the growth of creative talents constitute a bright spot of the current ICCIE. The 14 sessions of creative activities before, during, and after the ICCIE are the largest in scale in the ICCIE history, with the most extensive participation and longest duration. They include "Huali (China Gifts) Award of China International Gifts and Leisure Products Design Competition”, “the first Arts and Crafts Innovative Design Competition”, “Presentation Ceremony of 2011 China Red Star Award for Innovative Design”, “Design My Life—the TV Awards Presentation Ceremony of the 1^st Beijing International Design Competition”, “Beijing College Student Creativity Fair”, “Original Music Competition by Beijing College Students”, “Beijing Youth’s Cultural and Creative Festival”, “New Media Grand Ceremony and the Festival of New Media”, “Competition of Beijing New Rural Youth’s Cultural and Creative Works”, etc. Then, a lively scene will be formed which features inside and outside venue interaction, online and offline interaction, and combination of professional communication and general public experience.

 

3. Playing a leading and demonstrative role and highlighting the characteristics of the capital city

 

The 6^th ICCIE, adhering to the consistent positioning of “based in Beijing, serving the whole country and being internationally oriented”, will, in a broader area and a deeper manner, mobilize and bring into play the unique resource advantage of the concentration of culture, education, scientific research institutions, cultural talents and creative enterprises in the capital city, so as to build a professional service platform for the innovation of contents, forms, business formats and concepts in national cultural and creative industries.

 

Despite the reduction of exhibition space in the main venue due to the objective reason of renovation, the current ICCIE expands the area of the pavilion for cultural and creative industries of various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, 25% larger than usual. It also sets up special venues for the promotion and investment invitation as well as information dissemination for the cultural industry projects of various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. A large number of national- and provincial-level concentrated areas and industrial parks for the cultural industry, which were built in various places in recent years with great efforts, will make their significant appearance. While displaying in a comprehensive manner the development environment of the parks and the construction achievements of the key cultural projects, they will also introduce their major projects of cultural innovation during the “12^th Five-year Plan” to the domestic and foreign institutions and enterprises located in Beijing to seek industrial cooperation.

 

The 7 ICCIE forums are forward-looking, provide strong guidance, and gather intensively industrial policies, information and projects. More than 100 heads of international professional organizations, national industrial policy department authorities, renowned experts, scholars and entrepreneurs from domestic and international cultural industrial circles will bring with them the latest ideas and concepts as well as experiences worth learning from about the development of cultural and creative industries and the reform of cultural institutions and mechanisms. At the same time, there will be interpretation of industrial plans and policies and publication of industrial data, so as to provide services of ideas, concepts and policy orientations for national cultural and creative industries.

 

Beijing will do its utmost to make careful preparation and ensure full participation. The 9 cultural and creative industries that received key development in recent years, the functional areas for cultural and creative industries in the 12 districts and counties of Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chaoyang, Haidian, Fengtai, etc., as well as a number of State- and city-level cultural and creative industrial projects that have leading and demonstrative effect such as Chinese City of Animation Games, China Beijing Publishing and Creative Industrial Park, China Design Market, China Media Boulevard, and China Music Valley, will make their large-scale appearance. They will give a comprehensive display of the latest achievements of integrated development of culture and technology and the development momentum in building the capital of cultural creation, so as to seek worldwide cooperation. Zhongguancun National Model Area for Independent Innovation will display and publish a number of high-end and innovative technologies and products with strong radiation power that have independent intellectual property rights and represent the leading industrial levels. For the first time，the current ICCIE set up a pavilion of “Culture-enriched Beijing” to fully demonstrate the significant progress in the construction of a culture-enriched Beijing. Such universities as Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China and other universities of culture and arts in Beijing mobilize and bring into play their resource advantages to participate in the organization of exhibition, forums and creative activities of the ICCIE respectively.

 

4. Making efforts to build a platform for the cultural market and highlighting the market demand-oriented characteristics of running the ICCIE

 

The current ICCIE strengthens the concept for running the expo of “being guided by the government, led by the market, and taking the enterprise as the main body”. In accordance with the inherent requirements of building a modern cultural market, the ICCIE will focus on “strengthening” two things and “promoting” three things, that is, strengthening the resource sharing and organic interaction between exhibition, trade promotions, forums and creative activities, and strengthening the interface and joint participation of upstream, midstream and downstream industries; making efforts to promote the optimal allocation of the five market factors of culture, technology, information, personnel and capital, to promote the trade of cultural products and the landing of major industrial projects, and to promote the cross-sector integration of cultural industries with technological, creative, tourist and leisure industries.

 

The trade promotion activities of the current ICCIE reach 16 sessions, a substantial increase in the proportion of overall activities. They cover film and television programs; comic animation games; press, publication and copyright trade; collection and trade of antique arts on the arts market; modern and contemporary arts and crafts trade; art licensing; and art derivatives trade. Among them, the promotion of the combination of banks with enterprises, and of cultural industries with investment and financing, has become one of the features of the current ICCIE. Such activities as “The Fair of Banks and Enterprises for Cultural and Creative Industries”, “Promotion of Beijing Cultural and Creative Industry Investment and Financing Projects”, and “the Forum on Cultural and Creative Industries and Urban Brand” will introduce state-owned commercial banks and domestic and foreign private capital to conduct direct docking with cultural industry projects, so as to explore how to build the investment and financing mode for cultural and creative industries.

 

Guiding and activating the mass cultural consumption and expanding the cultural consumption market constitute another major feature of the current ICCIE. Such activities as “the 798 International Engraving Arts Fair” which is held for the first time, “Art in China—National Art Exhibition” which is hosted by Central Academy of Fine Arts and Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts, “Beijing • China Cultural Relics International Fair”, “Taihu International Book Fair”, and “Industrial Tourism— Entering Beijing’s Manufacturing Industry” will organize various forms of visit and experience activities for the general public, focusing on improving the artistic accomplishments and the aesthetic taste of the people. The sports industry exhibition and the promotion of sports industry projects will focus on large-scale sports events in Beijing, extending the Olympic effect.

 

Friends from the media,

 

    Today, we have 27 days from the beginning of the ICCIE. The preparatory work for the ICCIE has entered the final phase of implementation. The invitation for exhibitions has practically completed, the calling for ICCIE projects has entered the final stage, and some large projects have started pre-docking. At present, 8 international organizations and nearly 40 overseas governmental and professional delegations from 15 countries and regions including the United States, Britain, Japan, Korea, Poland, Mongolia, and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions have confirmed their participation. Delegation forming work by various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities is in progress. The Office of the Organizing Committee is making great efforts to organize and invite professional visitors and clients both from home and abroad. We sincerely hope that the news media, as always, will give warm concern and support to the ICCIE. We hope that you will go deep into the exhibitions and other venues to fully explore the domestic and international cultural and news resources gathered in the ICCIE and write more fresh and vivid articles. We hope that through you, Chinese culture can be disseminated and China’s cultural and creative products can be promoted to the world, so as to jointly promote the great development and prosperity of cultural and creative industries in China.