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2015 (10th) ICCIE Successfully Closes

2015-11-13 9:46:08

On the afternoon of Nov. 1, the activities in the main venue of the 2015 (10th) ICCIE successfully ended.

The 4-day 2015 ICCIE, themed with “Promoting innovation, integration and cultural prosperity” and tasked with demonstrating and leading the development of cultural industries, showcased across the board the latest achievements of cultural & creative industries at a time when the Chinese economy has entered into a “new normal”. 2015 ICCIE represented a grand reunion and parade of Chinese cultural industries. Not only did it demonstrate the trends of cultural & creative industries towards a massive scale and clustering, and great potential for the inheritance and innovation of outstanding Chinese traditional culture; but also exhibited the huge capacity created by in-depth integration and development of "culture plus", as well as tremendous business opportunities in the cultural market of China. As a platform to bring together cultural resources for transaction, 2015 ICCIE successfully facilitated the signing of a significant number of projects for industrial cooperation, and helped a host of cultural products go international.

Compared to previous events, 2015 ICCIE, with an unprecedented scale, further established itself as a high-end, professional-looking, market-oriented, and truly international Expo. 2015 ICCIE saw an attendance of over 1.98 million from cultural & creative sectors and relevant industries at home and abroad participate in over 100 activities in the name of "exhibitions", "pitch meetings", "forums", "creative activities", and "parallel sessions", etc. These attendees included three international organizations and 46 foreign delegations from 40 countries and regions, as well as 23 municipalities/provinces/autonomous regions of China. The main venue of 2015 ICCIE at China International Exhibition Center registered a total of some 220,000 attendees, most of whom were industrial professionals; during the keynote presentation and three forums, 42 speakers including top management of international organizations, authorities from national competent departments for relevant industries, and noted experts, scholars, and entrepreneurs from relevant sectors at home and abroad delivered a speech, and 1,400-odd industrial professionals participated in the event; and some 12,000 businesspersons were present in the 50-odd pitch meetings and signing activities featuring investment and financing of cultural & creative industries, transaction of cultural products, industrial cooperation, and artwork auctions.

According to incomplete statistics, this year's event recorded total agreement amount of RMB 100.38 billion concerning product and artwork transactions and bank-enterprise cooperation with respect to cultural & creative industries. In contrast to previous Expos, 2015 ICCIE took on four major characteristics: first, cultural products relating to radio, film, and TV programs and development, production, and publication of online games and animations saw substantial increases; second, new business models featuring the integration of culture with other sectors like science & technology, creativity, tourism, and sports were on the rise; third, on-site transactions of cultural products grew significantly; and fourth, there was a steady increase in cultural & creative projects invested by the financial sector.

ICCIE entered its tenth year, along with the rapid development of the cultural & creative industries of China. Over the past decade, ICCIE has borne witness to the development of Chinese cultural & creative industries from advent, formation, burgeoning to becoming high-end, international, and market-oriented, and to inheritance and innovation, trans-boundary integration, and transformation and upgrading of these industries. The last 10 events have also witnessed the progressive integration of Chinese cultural & creative industries into the world's general macroeconomic pattern, as well as the accelerated going global strategy of Chines culture.

Functioning as a window to the cultural industries of China, this year's ICCIE showed positive effects in six dimensions:

I. Vigorously promote traditional and distinctive culture to boost inheritance and innovation

Practically all the traditional and distinctive cultural products on display reflected a combination of contemporary spirit with up-to-date techniques. For instance, the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Area showcased 3,000 exquisite sculptures, embroideries and ceramics. Works of national-level masters brought down the house, including the Fortune Comes with Blooming Flowers • Circular Fan with Peony Pattern, Fortune Comes with Blooming Flowers, Archaic Scent of Blue-and-white Porcelains, and Mountains and Waters. The Museum Long Corridor rallied selections of museums from Beijing, Shanxi, Jilin, Anhui, Zhejiang, Shanghai, and other parts of China, exhibiting many historical relics and museum-related industrial products including not only museum treasure of elegant cultural taste, but also derivative products for day-to-day life. The Corridor was both academically sound and visitor-friendly. A continuous stream of visitors came to the booths of Nine Gate Snacks and Laoshe Tea House in the Tourism Exhibition Area; the first-time "Group Exhibition of China Time-honored Brands" attracted Neiliansheng, Wuyutai, and Zhang Yiyuan to expand tourism market and brand recognition; and 300-odd newly developed "Beijing Gifts" were promoted. In addition, the Dream of the Red Chamber by accordion and scale binding and Zaidaocangshu, a selected Chinese classic work, combined the beauty of Chinese classics with modern binding art.

This year's event brought together intangible cultural heritage products and locally featured products from across China. The main venue witnessed an impressive array of featured products, such as Fuyang Paper-cut and Wuhu Iron Pictures from Anhui; Rongchang Folding Fans and Youzhou Miao Embroideries from Chongqing; Thangkas and Barbola from Qinghai; Jiajiang New Year pictures and Palm Fiber Weaving from Sichuan. Also on display were locally distinctive products like Heilongjiang Flax, Tibet Brocade, Qingyang Sachet from Gansu, Horsetail Embroidery of Shui People of Guizhou, and Qinzhou Nixing Ceramics from Guangxi. Shanxi "Bookstore of Shanxi Merchants" reproduced the traditional book and calligraphy culture of Shanxi merchants lasting several hundred years in Chinese history. Qinghai, alongside with Chengdu, highlighted a panorama of Tibetan, Qiang and Yi cultural industries. Yangzhou Session impressed with such stunning intangible culture heritage as Yangzhou Ditty, Puppet, Yangzhou Opera, and Chinese zither, injecting new vigor to Yangzhou with fresh techniques and products.

II. Develop Original Cultural Products to Increase Value

2015 ICCIE was committed to bringing together original cultural products and improving additional value of these products by tapping intellectual property to its full potential. More than 100 extraordinary design works integrating traditional Chinese elements with international fashion made their debut during the exhibition of works by excellent young designers under the Support Program for Talents of Startup and Creativity of cultural industries, co-sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Finance, delivering all-new aesthetic experiences to visitors. Original works also abounded in the Radio, Film, and TV Exhibition Area. Among these original products on display were By the Golden Water Bridge and Growth Story of PRC holding high the main theme and Charm of the Song Dynasty, which is China's first televised documentary to demonstrate Chinese Song Poems as well as the lives of poets of these Song Poems. Bond, an 8-episode cultural documentary, comprehensively structured overseas Sinology for the first time and showed a 4-century legend of east-west exchanges; Nutrition Town, China's first cartoon for scientific popularization with the theme of nutrition health, was promoted globally.

Mahua FunAge, a new-generation comedy brand of Beijing, worked with Hao Ju Fang, a comedy producer of Tianjin, to showcase their immensely popular original plays, such as Lunar New Year Show, Charlotte's Annoyance, We Three Men, and Hot Girls. The 100 shows due for the 2016 New Year Season were also on exhibition. Hutong.com, Beijing Legend, and Super Baby produced by Beijing Children's Art Theater Co., Ltd oozed great cultural charm. The Expo also witnessed the unveiling of the appraisal and selection of Youth Of China—Cultural Works for Children, an event which has grown to become an extraordinary IP incubator of China. The Taiwan Cultural & Creative Industry Exhibition, devoted to originality, blending, and culture, showcased the overall design capacity and unique cultural essence of Taiwan with 50 original brands and works of designers and handymen.

III. Focus on Collaborative Cultural Development of Jing-Jin-Ji Region and Promote a Win-win Result in Regional Industrial Cooperation

During this Expo, the cultural & creative resources of Jing-Jin-Ji (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) Region made their debut so as to promote collaborative cultural development of this region. The "Jing-Jin-Ji Pitch Meeting for Cultural Projects" exhibited 100 outstanding cultural projects in the region, covering such themes as cartoon games, performance, artwork, intangible cultural heritage, industrial platform, and industrial park. Projects including the "Wenhui Tianxia One-stop Cultural Consumption Platform" and Quyang National Cultural Industries Experimental Park were promoted during the Expo. The first-time Jing-Jin-Ji Joint Exhibition of Cultural Products impressed visitors greatly with artistic derivatives of the Imperial Palace, Zhang's Clay Figurines, Qianxi Rice Paper, and other fine cultural selections. In addition, this Expo saw several museums (The Museum of Xizhou Yandu Site in Beijing, Capital Museum, Tianjin Museum, Hebei Museum, Langfang Museum, and Zhuozhou Museum) in Jing-Jin-Ji join hands for the first time and showcase the geographically integrated and culturally homogenous history and culture of the region with the ancient YanZhao culture rich in cultural resources as the centerpiece. The Association for the Development of Jing-Jin-Ji Cultural & Creative Industry Cluster discussed the status quo and problems, as well as opportunities and challenges facing cultural & creative industrial cluster zones in the context of the New Normal, so as to offer new approaches and driving force for them. Extended to Jing-Jin-Ji for the first time, the "City of Design—Design Tour" featured "A Trip to the Grand Canal in Tianjin" and the Exhibition of Public Welfare Design of 12 Apartments themed with "Design for People—Healthy Housing". Dongcheng District promoted in Tianjin the “creative workshops along hutongs”, in a bid to establish an emerging industry base integrating technology, media and telecommunications. Also on display at the Expo were Chilunchang Brand Entrepreneurship Cultural Park, a multi-functional park for collaborative development of Jing-Jin-Ji, and jjj.qq.com, an urban service platform for Jing-Jin-Ji Region.

IV. Display Internet Culture and Promote Trans-boundary Integration of Cultural Resources

2015 ICCIE highlighted thriving Internet-based cultural industries of China. Zhongguancun Internet Cultural & Creative Industrial Park participated in the Expo, along with its Yuyuantan Cultural & Creative Park, Qinghe Cultural & Artistic Park, Sijiqing Internet Cultural & Financial Park. Jjwxc.net boasts more than 1.8 million online works, with such books as Affectionate Remembrance and Schemes of a Beauty having been adapted to TV plays or movies and with The Journey of Flower and Lord is Here having their copyright exported. At the Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television Exhibition Area, China Reading Limited, China's largest online literature platform showcased its 100-odd currently the hottest online literary works with full IP, including The Door to Destroy the World, Divine Emperor, and Challenging Limits. These works witnessed red hot on-site transactions, attracting a large number of film and television institutions for cooperation in adaptation. In recent years, the whole industrial chain of online literature has been developing rapidly with ever-growing significance.

In response to the New Normal in industrial integration, this Expo witnessed mushrooming new business models, products, and technologies, such as the combination of culture with science, tourism, and sports. Digital media art was shown by Xiaqing, a water-and-ink animation using naked-eye 3D technology, and Beijing Impression, an electronic publication. By virtue of third-generation film technology, Wild Strawberries was made into a 720-degree panoramic interactive film. Weiguoshiyun offers convenient one-stop cloud services for the spread of authorized content around the world. The "Calligraphy Experiencing Device of Digitalization of Chinese Characters", produced by the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASIA), digitally "enlivened" Chinese characters, thereby comprehensively upgrading traditional calligraphy art of China by fundamentally changing the approach to facsimile, creation, display, and reservation of traditional calligraphy and bidding farewell to paper and ink. In addition, Grey Yeongam, a super-large screen naked-eye 3D show, disrupted the concept of tourism performance; Idong motion sports started a new model for national fitness; and APPs on ice and snow games exemplified the new model in sports culture.

V. Create a Favorable Environment for Innovation & Creativity and Promote Popular Entrepreneurship & Mass Innovation

At this Expo, popular entrepreneurship & mass innovation initiative was picking up speed among young people. 2015 ICCIE witnessed a significant number of youth cultural & creative events, such as the final of the "Entrepreneurship Just in Time" —2015 Youth Entrepreneurship Contest, the Invitation Exhibition of Chinese Youth Designers, the 5th Creative Bazaar for University Students in Beijing, Beijing New Village Youth Creative Design Contest, Beijing Exhibition of Excellent Cultural & Creative Works of International Youths, and Taiwan Youth Creator Exchange Program. Meanwhile, there were an impressive array of cultural & creative projects and entrepreneurship incubators sharing experience and business wisdom with start-ups during this Expo, including DRC (Design Resource Cooperation) Creative Workshop, Digua Community, Nut Anti-loss Network, paper matrix fashion show, 3D magic art exhibition, inductive mini metal smelter, anti-haze paper-cut for window decoration, zhongchuang.com, and Creative Workshop. Financial institutions are also innovating their services to facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship projects. At the Expo, Zhongchou.com introduced equity-based crowd-funding, lending-based crowd-funding, and Reward-based crowd-funding; Bank of Beijing rolled out Creative Loan, IP Loan, Small and Micro Loan, and other similar financial products.

Districts and counties across Beijing were fully engaged in the Expo to create an atmosphere of creativity. For example, Chaoyang District showcased its new image as a pilot zone for national cultural industries; Haidian District heavily featured its new "culture plus" models; Dongcheng District integrated the creative factories of hutong to highlight the all-new integration of cultural industries; Xicheng District simultaneously reproduced its history and modernity artistically; Changping District displayed its achievements in integrating culture and science & technology using a 360-degree method; Shijingshan District presented the latest development in its game sectors; and Huairou District, well-known as the capital of movies and TV plays, touted its original art promising to be exported overseas. In addition, Fangshan, Mentougou, Tongzhou, and other areas of Beijing exhibited the latest development in their cultural industries.

VI. Spur International Exchange and Cooperation and Propel Chinese Culture towards Globalization

2015 ICCIE became more professional and international, graced by one keynote presentation and three special forums. During the keynote presentation, high-profile international experts in cultural & creative industries delivered a speech on the productivity of industrial integration, cultural & creative industries in the era of the Internet, and the One Belt and One Road Initiative and cultural & creative industries. The International Forum on the Development of Animation and Games Industries examined the enormous opportunities brought by "Internet+" to the integration of animation and games industries; the Museums and Cultural & Creative Industry Development Forum was both academically sound and visitor-friendly; the International Film Industry Development Forum, the Beijing International Copyright Forum directly targeted the most relevant issues in today's film industry of China, in an effort to properly guide the integration of online literature and Chinese film industry. At the International Cooperation Project Promotion for Globalizing Chinese Cultural Enterprises themed with Internationalization of Chinese Cultural Industries in the Context of Globalization, cultural cooperation projects were demonstrated and international collaboration projects were promoted. The inaugural GFAA Arts & Antiques Week of ICCIE showcased masterpieces of Pablo Picasso, Jean-François Millet and Claude Monet; renowned designers and their metal artworks from 24 countries including Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the US were on display at the Beijing International Contemporary Metal & Jewelry Art Exhibition; 56 top-level antique dealers from such countries as the US, Canada, and Australia participated in 2015 ICCIE with their collections. The Taihu International Book Sub-Exhibition rolled out more than 600,000 publications, with its area for books in original foreign languages graced by over 50,000 books published by 48 publishing groups and 380-odd foreign presses from the UK, the US, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and other countries.

Cultural globalization projects featured prominently in this year's Expo in a bid to allow Chinese culture to have a greater international influence. Beijing Publishing Group puts an emphasis on publications involving the New Silk Road, with five of its books selected as the translation project under the Silk Road Book Program; 1905.com features the largest film library, covering users from 178 countries and regions. Blue Ocean Network (BON) highlighted its latest BON Cloud to deliver a media ecosystem for international communication. The Global Tour of Beijing Three Hills and Five Gardens Culture showcased a number of items, such as the interactive media of 40 scenic spots of the Old Summer Palace, the copperplate etching of the Picture of Triumph over Dzungar and Hui People, as well as Three Hills and Five Gardens. The Global Tour of the Ditan Cultural Temple Fair focuses on integrating Chinese and foreign culture, and seeks to build itself into a most visitor-friendly platform for cultural exchange by introducing local folk culture and performance forms with Chinese cultural essence as the core. In 2016, the event will become available to Germany, Thailand, South Korea, Iran, and other countries. Huayunshangde works in partnership with multiple foreign agencies to establish the Frankfort International Documentary Festival, opening up a new era for Chinese people to lead an international documentary festival. Xinjiang Broadcast Network joins hands with cultural enterprises from Turkey, Kazakhstan, and other countries concerned under the Silk Road Economic Belt, so as to spread cultural achievements of Xinjiang around the globe. Red Mansion International Innovation Bond Park, the first public bond project for film & TV and cultural products, strives to provide cultural enterprises with full bonded warehousing services covering exhibition, submission for approval for import & export, assessment, guarantee, insurance, and other respects, so as to facilitate Chinese culture towards globalization.

The 11th ICCIE will be held during Oct. 27–30, 2016.