Golden Age of the Chinese Cultural Industry

Over the past several years, the Chinese government has multiplied its efforts to boost cultural prosperity. All across the country, public cultural facilities have been built into functional cultural landmarks, from the eastern coast to the western border. From central cities to rural areas, cultural services have become basic public resources and conveniences enjoyed by local residents. Public readings, popular art shows, inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, and rich, colorful cultural events have become important facets of daily life.

The year 2017 was highlighted by a variety of cultural phenomena involving museums, sensational TV dramas and movies, mobile gaming, digital reading and paid content. In 2017, every realm of culture bloomed. Many cultural variety shows were huge hits in 2017. Cultural programs such as “Chinese Poetry Conference,” “The Reader” and “National Treasure” kept viewers glued to TV screens and social networks. Derivative books remain bestsellers. The beauty of Tang- and Song-dynasty poems as well as the revivals of several famous literary works ignited the poetic hearts of the Chinese people and gentle memories of literature and history, provoking a strong emotional response, widely.

Pay-for-knowledge has become a new trend and is expected to develop into a growth point of cultural consumption in 2018.

Thanks to the support of mobile payments, internet technology, and consumption upgrading, more and more people are choosing paid selfimprovement via online platforms.

For instance, in September 2017 a valuation of a Peking University professor’s online lecture at 30 million yuan (US$4.6 million) went viral after making its way on Wechat, one of the most popular social networking platforms in China.

The Himalaya FM knowledge carnival’s daily turnover broke 50 million yuan (US$7.6 million). Knowledge sharing platforms such as Fenda, Zhihu Live, and Igetget emerged one after another. The fields of paid content expanded from commercial finance, skills training and other popular areas to more diversified, specific knowledge segments. More and more netizens are willing to pay for knowledge.

Additionally, more and more Chinese film and television products have “gone global,” not only selling at good prices in the international market, but also gaining solid reputations.

For example, overseas publishing rights for Youku’s homemade drama Dayandnight and iqiyi’s Tientsinmystic and Burningice have all been bought by Netflix, the largest streaming media platform in the United States, becoming China’s first group of network television series to be officially broadcast abroad at such a scale. Previously, Netflix had also bought two-year exclusive rights to globally broadcast the Chinese animated film H2o:mermaidadventures .

The new year will see a continuation of the rise of China’s cultural industry, which has become an important economic growth point under the new normal of the country. Integrated development and upgrade of innovation-driven cultural and creative industries has been gradually becoming a national strategy.

In 2018, the cultural industry will be developed with focus on the upgrade of quality and efficiency, and cultural consumption will become a new impetus for China’s economic transformation. Moreover, culture and capital will cooperate deeper, and culture, science and technology will become more integrated as innovation unfolds. The internet will continue to boost mechanism optimization and upgrades of the cultural industry.