Training camp to help cultivate professionals and leaders
Chinese internet titan Tencent Holdings Ltd is gearing up its expansion in the cultural and creative industry, seeing it as the next frontier of growth in the internet sector.
Tencent, best known for its WeChat messaging service and online games, recently announced a strategic partnership with the Beijing Film Academy, as part of its wider efforts to facilitate Chinese startups through integrating its online and offline resources.
Under the partnership, Tencent will work with the Beijing Film Academy, one of China’s most prestigious colleges for film and television production, to establish a training camp to cultivate professionals and leaders with global perspectives in the cultural and creative industry.
“Buoyed by the burgeoning internet, the whole cultural and creative sector has boomed, gradually changing our daily lives,” said Lin Songtao, Tencent’s vice-president.
“Known as an internetbased technology and cultural company, Tencent will continue to serve as a digital tool, helping the whole industry and professionals better improve their capabilities,” he said.
A recent report released by industry database Gamma Data Corp said the pan-entertainment industry has become a key driver of economic growth in China. In 2017, it generated more than 480 billion yuan ($75 billion) in economic output, up by over 15 percent year-on-year.
Lin cited the remarks Tencent’s founder Pony Ma made during a digital summit in Chongqing in early April, saying the Shenzhen-based company currently focuses on three aspects — connections, tools and ecosystem.
“We will devote more efforts to empower the ecosystem, helping more pioneers in the creative and cultural industry realize their dreams.”
The new training camp will focus on entrepreneurship and innovation in pan-entertainment fields including short videos, online shows, animations, comics, TV dramas and movies.
According to the company, the camp will not only offer special classes to share Tencent’s entrepreneurship experiences and cutting-edge technologies, but also take the members to visit global heartlands of the cultural and creative industry, such as the United States, Japan and South Korea. Moreover, Tencent will help distribute highquality content via its various platforms, such as WeChat, QQ, Tencent Video and Tencent News.
In recent years, Tencent has built up its competitive advantage in content and intellectual property across its various platforms. To take this further, Tencent established its content-focused TOPIC fund last year, aiming to invest in more than 150 leading companies in the industry.
The new training camp is part of Tencent’s wider efforts to expand its Qingteng University program, aiming to build a production, learning and research platform that integrates the world’s best resources for entrepreneurs.
Previously, Tencent has cooperated with Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, setting up training camps to cultivate business and technology talent.