The 13th China Beijing International Cultural and Creative Industry Expo (ICCIE) was successfully concluded on the afternoon of Oct. 28th, 2018.
The four-day event presents a panorama of Beijing’s latest achievements in establishing itself as the national cultural center.
This year, the international elements of ICCIE were significantly enriched. It received 87 groups of overseas visitors from five international organizations and 69 countries/regions, as well as 18 delegations of China’s autonomous regions, provinces and municipalities. Industrial professionals contributed most to the roughly 200,000 visits. The keynote seminar and ten theme forums were addressed by 218 speakers - including senior managers of international organizations, technocrats from national competent authorities, and famed experts, scholars and entrepreneurs at home and abroad - and attended by 3,500 trade visitors. The 25 BizTalks, involving 15,000 domestic and foreign merchants, were focused on investment and financing for the cultural and creative industries; trading of cultural products; and industrial cooperation.
At ICCIE 2018, contracts worth RMB 6.8135 billion were inked for 39 key cultural and creative projects, according to incomplete statistics. To be specific, “culture + (finance, technology, creation etc.)” projects take the lion’s share, accounting for nearly 65% of the total amount; projects closely related to people’s life come thick and fast, representing 36% of the total quantity; Belt and Road (B&R) projects and other Sino-foreign collaborations fare well, taking up 22% of the total amount; traditional projects see a steady rise, approaching the 20% mark of the total amount.
Here are the five major functions of ICCIE 2018:
Driven by digital technologies, the cultural and creative industries are marching to the fore. The 2nd China Beijing International Language & Culture Expo brought together sophisticated technologies and products at home and abroad. Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Language Resources translated globally collected resources into solutions to inter-language communication. iFLYTEK developed the intelligent error correction + humanoid answering systems along with the global platform for Chinese learning, mock test and training.
The exhibition for press, publication, radio, film and TV was brimming with technical features, where a wide array of technologies including AI, VR, holographic projection, 3D projection, and large space positioning were displayed. Beijing Media Network presented new landscapes of “culture +”. Among them, China’s first full frequency visual radio enables omnidirectional communication, Beijing IPTV serves as an Internet-based omni-media interaction platform, and the Convergence Media Center boasts multimedia compatibility. The 8K 110-inch TV premiered at the ICCIE. On a 20m-long, 3m-high screen, the “Grand Canal: Beyond Time and Space”, a big-budget video produced by Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, was played on a loop, showcasing the beauty and millennia-old culture of Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
The 2018 China Digital Creativity and Technology Expo saw the release of “A Ramble in Chaoyang”, China’s first 4D film for urban image building, and the debut of 3R Experience Center. VR, AR and MR put on a dazzling show, which contained a panoramic virtual tour around Beijing Dongyue Temple, interactive experience of the National Cultural Industry Innovation Experiment Zone, and a guided visit to Chaoyang Museum of Urban Planning. The Bird’s Nest, Water Cube and Olympic Tower were right at your fingertips.
The win-win integration of culture and tourism has created countless formats, and some of its achievements could be seen at Beijing Tourism Exhibition Hall. Time-honored brands celebrated the authentic local flavors; Bai Gong Fang (literally, “100 Handicraftsmen Workshop”) presented a cornucopia of intangible heritage; drama shows and “Beijing gifts” embodied the charm and goodwill of the ancient capital.
ICCIE 2018 also unveiled how far sports had gone in integrating with culture and other sectors.
ICCIE 2018 brought together outstanding traditional products, promoted the marriage of tradition and modernity, and showcased the charm and power of the ever-evolving Chinese culture.
Museums are the patron saint of traditional culture. This year, ICCIE presented cultural and creative products from dozens of museums across the country. Among the gifts from Shenyang Palace Museum are Banner soldier-themed stationery sets and cute imperial baby key chains. Equally amazing are the tea sets, incense burners, flower plants and other objets d’art from China Railway Museum, China Aviation Museum, China Agricultural Museum, and Ancient Pottery Culture Museum.
The exhibition for arts and crafts was peppered with national treasures and local stunts. ZHANG Tonglu, LI Peiqing, Liu Yongsen and other masters brought their workshops here. Han Fen Lou Bookstore of the Commercial Press debuted at ICCIE. By dint of O2O operation, the time-honored printing house is able to run a diversified reading center and a smart bookstore.
Traditional culture is a wellspring of innovation. The incubation of the Palace Museum-themed cartoon IPs, the cultural and creative industry bases for ancient buildings and the courses on ancient Chinese architecture are among the programs which not only rely on but also recreate traditions. “Chinese Craftsmanship”, an epic documentary series, aims to unveil the value of traditional culture and promote cultural and creative brands. The mural simulation and replication technology of Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication injects fresh impetus into the upholding and development of traditional culture.
ICCIE 2018 focused on Beijing’s new practices and achievements in respect of building the national cultural center. It fully showcased the city’s commitment to innovation, righteousness, and the deepening of reform. Here, visitors could get a peep into the increasing vitality of the cultural industry, the rising enthusiasm for cultural innovation and the growing quality of cultural supply.
Old factories turned cultural and creative industry parks have become an eye-catching placard of Beijing. At ICCIE 2018, limelight was given to 60 such parks in Chaoyang District and Zhongguancun 768 Creative Industry Park in Haidian District, a unicorn incubation base and a hotbed of cultural and technical innovation. These parks have undergone four transitions, i.e. from comprehensive parks to featured, specialized ones, from isolated parks to inclusive, open ones, from the operation of commercial space to that of park brand, from putting profits first to balancing economic and social benefits.
China’s first alliance for old factory preservation and utilization and urban cultural development made its maiden appearance at the ICCIE. The alliance brought with itself 50 celebrated and influential park brands, including 798 Art Zone and 751D·PARK of Beijing, The Bridge 8 of Shanghai, C92 of Tianjin, LOFT49 of Hangzhou, and Eastern Suburb Memory of Chengdu. These brands have spoken much of the alliance’s achievements, shared the experience of various cities, and jointly promoted the exploration, preservation and utilization of old factories. For instance, as part of Chaoyang Museum of Urban Planning, the newly founded old factory-themed post office, which is never before seen in the country, is committed to developing featured and themed philatelic products.
Entrepreneurship and innovation were promoted through the Cultural Creativity Competition, seven creative events, and activities at the 40-odd sub-venues. To foster talents, stimulate creativity, and rev up marketing of outstanding achievements, ICCIE 2018 displayed the award-winning pieces of 2018 Beijing Cultural Creativity Competition, the 12th “Gongmei Cup” Beijing Arts and Crafts Innovative Design Competition, Fashion Market for University Students in Beijing, Beijing Youth Culture and Creativity Festival, and Youth Creative Design Competition for Beijing’s New Villages.
Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei share borders and culture. At the exhibition for cultural and creative product development achievements of the Jing-Jin-Ji cluster, traditional cultural products and “culture and technology” innovations were presented by typical enterprises and projects. Among them are paintings from Beijing Fine Art Academy and calligraphic works, paintings and ancient books produced or replicated by Capital Library of China based on its own collections and extant buildings.
Centered round Jing-Jin-Ji coordinated development, planning and construction of Xiongan New Area, and preparation for the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Hebei exhibition showcased the province’s rich cultural resources and achievements in innovation-driven development and transition. Among the exquisite items are paintings of the reed-covered Baiyang Lake, paper cuttings of Yuxian County, brick arts of Qinghuangdao, cloisonné of Xianghe, and Cizhou ware of Handan. Featured cultural and creative products developed by Hebei Museum, including the cups with a scarlet-bird holding a ring in its beak decoration, the gilt bronze human-shaped lamps, and the tigers with a deer in mouth, combine classic elements with modern fashions. Another highlight of the exhibition is Wuqiao Acrobatics. Antics and stunts in “Straw Hats”, “Pole Climbing” and “Foot Juggling” got big rounds of applause.
The 2nd China Beijing International Language & Culture Expo tells us some key facts: 140 Confucius Institutes and 135 Confucius Classrooms, both dedicated to the Chinese culture and language, have been established in 52 out of 65 B&R countries; Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture, with 600 entries so far, has been published in 15 languages in 16 B&R countries; the Language Service Center for B&R Countries has such functions as culture publishing, translation, culture and language training, running an international database for language learning with partners. The “Belt and Road” Forum on Common Development and Prosperity of Language and Culture explores how to enhance national discourse power under the BRI, and how to better satisfy the needs of B&R projects for language consumption. It also probes into the common prosperity of Confucius Institutes and Chinese and foreign cultures. The “Belt and Road” School-Enterprise Alliance for Language and Culture Communication made a declaration at the forum, which opened up new horizons for such communication under the BRI.
The exhibition for international popular science resources in Beijing brought together relevant entities from over 20 countries, including the Deutsches Museum, Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy, Science Centre Singapore, and All Russia Science Festival. At Chaoyang Sub-venue, the 4th Beijing Silon International Culture and Art Festival put a spotlight on B&R countries. Over 30 tip-top woodblock prints made in 20th-century Russia landed among the world’s largest cluster of cement silos. At the Cross-strait Cultural and Artistic Exchange Exhibition titled “Language of Painting on the Silk Road”, XU Boyi displayed more than 200 items of great artistic and historical value from B&R countries and regions. Taihu Sub-venue featured 600,000 top-notch Chinese and foreign publications, including upwards of 50,000 foreign language books from 48 publishing groups and 380-odd printing houses in the UK, the US, France, Germany etc.
The 14th ICCIE will be held on Oct. 24th-27th, 2019.
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