Progress made in cultural digitalization

China will continue to advance the national cultural digitalization strategy to facilitate the high-quality development of culture and tourism, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said at a briefing on Thursday.

In May last year, a plan to promote the national cultural digitalization strategy was released, calling for the strengthening of digital infrastructure and establishing databases, in order to better preserve cultural content and provide public cultural services.

"The strategy holds great importance in building up China's cultural strength and cultural confidence, promoting high-quality development, and enhancing China's cultural soft power and influence," said China's Vice-Minister of Culture and Tourism Lu Yingchuan at the briefing, which was organized by the State Council Information Office.

Lu introduced the efforts and the progress made so far by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in implementing the strategy, including its acceleration of digitalized preservation and presentation of cultural resources.

According to Lu, the Palace Museum houses around 1.86 million cultural artifacts, with recent data indicating that around 900,000 sets have undergone digitization. The National Museum of China has achieved digitization of about 700,000 sets among its collection of approximately 1.43 million items.

Similar projects are being carried out in organizations including the National Art Museum of China and the National Library of China, to preserve cultural artifacts, historical texts and artworks in digital formats.

Digital technologies are being promoted to foster innovative formats in cultural industries. Performing arts, for instance, are being brought to online platforms, providing livestreaming and broadcasting while being performed in conventional theater venues.

The tourism industry is increasingly providing innovative experiences to visitors, including immersive performances and virtual visits, helping to popularize cultural products and facilitate tourism development.

Digital content is being provided to enhance public cultural services. Apart from the national Culture Digital Cloud, more than 200 similar online platforms have been established across China, offering a variety of literature and cultural resources to the public.

Chen Binbin, director of the public service department at the ministry, said that promoting the digitalization strategy helps to innovate the mechanism of providing public cultural services. As part of this initiative, efforts are underway to set up and upgrade the nationwide digital library system and public culture cloud databases.

According to Lu, the ministry will continue to accelerate the digitalization of cultural resources, nurture original cultural content and products, promote the application of digital technology in diverse cultural and tourism sectors, as well as establish regulatory frameworks to supervise the market and protect intellectual property.

"The advancement of the national cultural digitalization strategy will be sure to continuously enhance the quality and efficiency of the cultural, art and tourism industries, thereby contributing to achieving high-quality development," Lu said.