Culture of creativity

We are not content being the world's leading shoemaker or DVD-player manufacturer. We want a bigger share of the exorbitant added values. So we aspire to become a land of creative potential, or a "creative country" as defined in official terms.

But a number of scholars and experts have warned that we lack the "cultural environment" for becoming so. They told an international symposium recently that the absence of cultural sensitivities was an "invisible obstacle" to the further growth of China's creative industries.

Their remarks may be surprising. Our leaders often speak of "creative country". In fact, creative industries have been an integral part of many local governments' development blueprints.