Digital culture to blast off with fast networks

5G technology set to fuel creative industry into premier economic league

Driven by new-generation technologies, China's digital culture industry is expected to embrace a major expansion as a would-be pillar sector in the country, according to an industrial report.

The Digital Culture Industry Trends Report was released by the Development Research Center of the State Council, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Tencent Research in early August.

"The digital culture industry has seen the dawn of its explosive growth," Yang Xiaodong, head of a research institute focusing on oriental culture and urban development at the Development Research Center, told Economic Daily.

The report estimated the domestic industry generated 2.85 trillion to 3.26 trillion yuan ($403.91 billion to 462.02 billion) in industrial output value in 2017. It forecast the amount to increase to 8 trillion yuan in 2020.

With the promotion of 5G technology, the digital culture industry will be riding high, Yang said.

The change enables emerging technologies to further integrate with the creative industry. This will lay a foundation to create infrastructure for the digital creative industry, said Zhang Xiaoming, a senior researcher at a Chinese culture research center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The 5G-based internet will enable commercial use of virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality technologies. This will benefit sectors such as video games, films and TV, exhibitions and conferences, tourism, media and publications, the report found.

Driverless vehicles will be another field that is expected to expand due to fast and reliable connectivity through 5G technology. Based on online platforms serving such vehicles, future cultural companies may turn to the segment to offer tailor-made content, the report said.

In addition, the internet of things, industrial internet and smart cities will be included as high-growth sectors to benefit from new-generation technologies. Their expansion will spur growth in the digital culture industry.

Cultural companies have created new business models, patterns and practices to boost the development of digital cultural consumption. They have become highlights of the cultural industry, said Li Lei, an official from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The overseas market is a key market for domestic digital culture products, said Huang Bin, a member of a think tank from Peking University.

The report shows that Chinese-developed video games earned $9.59 billion in sales from overseas in 2018, increasing 15.8 percent from 2017. In comparison, growth in the domestic market was 5.3 percent.

Zhang encourages Chinese companies to engage in formulating international standards. He called on them to expand cooperation in tackling fundamental, key and common technological difficulties.

China is now a major importer of copyrights, Zhang said. "Original creativity is the key to international competitiveness in the sphere of the global digital culture industry."

Gao Hongcun, an expert from the Chinese Academy of Governance, said that digital culture has been designated as an emerging strategic sector in China. Related businesses can receive policy support.

Yang from the Development Research Center said policy support needs to tilt toward small businesses, individual creators and professional creative organizations.

"When it comes to the support for creators, copyright protection - in particular, the protection of their rights to commercialize their creative ideas - comes first."

(China Daily 08/22/2019 page17)