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Over 36,000 companies have registered at the National Cultural and Creative Experiment Zone, which leads the cultural and creative industry towards sophistication

2017-9-13 9:29:24

Chinanews.com, Beijing, Sept. 11^th, Du Yan - China’s first national cultural and creative experiment zone was established in Beijing in July 2014. As of the end of August 2017, it had accommodated 36,625 registered companies. In 2016, above-scale cultural and creative companies in the Zone logged RMB 153.57 billion in revenue, accounting for 11% of the city. The revenue is also RMB 19.7 billion, or 14.7%, more than when the Zone was first established. So far, the Zone has introduced or incubated 70 listed cultural and creative companies, some of which have made their way to the New Third Board. It also features unicorns like Zhangyue Technology Co., Ltd. as well as nine national maker spaces. The Zone is emerging as a new placard of Beijing as a “national cultural center”.

 

Sept. 11^th observed the opening of the 12^th China Beijing International Cultural & Creative Industry Expo (ICCIE 2017). As Wang Juan, Deputy Director of the Administrative Committee of the Zone, said at an ICCIE press conference, the Zone, with CBD-Dingfuzhuang International Media Corridor as the core, is a testbed for cultural industry policies. Since it was approved to be set up on Jul. 31^st, 2014 and inaugurated in December of the same year, the Zone has co-opted nearly 20,000 cultural and creative companies, including 577 with an additional registered capital of no less than RMB 50 million, and 196 with a registered capital of no less than RMB 100 million; registered capital of existing companies has totaled RMB 58.444 billion. As of the end of August 2017, the Zone had accommodated 36,625 registered companies.

 

She added that above-scale cultural and creative companies in the Zone have logged RMB 153.57 billion in revenue, accounting for 11% of the city. The revenue is also RMB 19.7 billion, or 14.7%, more than when the Zone was first established.

 

The Zone is emerging as a new placard of Beijing as a “national cultural center”. Wang claimed that the Zone features unicorns like Alibaba and Zhangyue Technology as well as over 50 cultural parks/bases including Legend Town and Maolong Cultural and Creative Park. It has also introduced or incubated 70 listed cultural and creative companies, some of which have made their way to the New Third Board. A heterogeneous, yet coordinated, development pattern has thus taken shape.

 

Focused on high-end sectors, formats and functions, the Zone is leading the cultural and creative industry towards sophistication. At present, companies in hi-tech, highly innovative, and high value added sectors like mobile media, digital entertainment, and digital publishing have seen an above-40% year-on-year growth, Wang said.

 

Industrial development is impossible without favorable policies and quality services. As Wang put it, the Zone has established various types of service platforms, constantly improving the environment for doing business. Among the platforms are China’s first credit promotion association for cultural companies, China’s first national copyright innovation base, and Beijing’s first IP protection sub-center for the cultural and creative industry. In late August 2017, the Center for Coordinated Development of Jing-Jin-Ji’s Cultural Industries went into service in the Zone. Boasting nine core services, including exhibition, think tank services, project support, media services, talent services, investment and financing services, and one-stop cultural services in Beijing, the Center has given markets the dominant role in resource distribution, and offered energetic support for companies, parks, social organizations, and governments.

 

Experiments are still going on at the Zone. This year alone, seven featured parks were rebuilt there, providing a space of over 200,000 m² for cultural companies. Wang mentioned that over the past three years, a total of 37 featured parks have been restructured and upgraded, covering an area of 2.3544 million m². The parks were built on the sites of old industrial plants, traditional commercial facilities, physical marketplaces and rural lands - an indeed efficient way of space utilization.