Beijing's cultural industry hits trillion-yuan mark

Culture

​Beijing's cultural industry has witnessed tremendous changes over the past 70 years and become an important engine for the economic development of the capital, a city official said Thursday at a State Council Information Office press conference.

China.org.cnUpdated: September 20, 2019

Beijing's cultural industry has witnessed tremendous changes over the past 70 years and become an important engine for the economic development of the capital, a city official said Thursday at a State Council Information Office press conference.

Du Feijin, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, said that the city's cultural industry has represented a growing proportion of the local GDP, from 6.4% in 2004 to about 10% in 2018, and that the city's cultural industry realized a total revenue of 1.07 trillion yuan in 2018, almost doubling the 2013 figure.

As a national cultural center, Beijing has obvious advantages in the core areas of the cultural industry. It boasts more than half of the country's revenue in the news and information service industry, and it is where more than 25% of the creative design and advertising production is conducted. Also, Beijing hosts nearly half of China's film production and has 40% of the country's copyright registrations.

Leveraging the headquarter effect and its vibrant financial market, Beijing has significantly improved its capability in delivering quality financial service and provided a premium business environment for the cultural industry. Private equity funds and cultural industry mergers and acquisitions represent around 60% and 30%, respectively, of the country's total, while more than 4,000 above-scale enterprises have registered in the capital. Beijing also leads the national ranking with the highest number of enterprises listed on China's National Equities Exchange and Quotations (New Third Board), as well as the number of "Top 30 Cultural Enterprises."

Over the past 70 years, Beijing has been thriving to strike a balance between the protection of an ancient capital and the development of a modern metropolis. Since 2012, special effort has been made by the municipal government to vigorously promote the protection of world cultural heritage sites such as the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, and the Peking Man Site, to revitalize the Central Axis and the Old City, and to repurpose historical properties and old houses. 

In the meantime, cultural facilities, cultural products, and cultural services available to the public have grown from nothing to high quality. The number of museums in Beijing has increased from 14 in the 1950s to 179 today, and the number of parks from six to more than 700. There are 149 theaters, 329 cinemas, more than 5,800 public libraries, and tens of thousands of cultural centers in Beijing, providing venues for 70 cultural performances and more than 8,400 movies each day. The per capita cultural and entertainment spending of urban residents increased from less than 400 yuan in 2000 to 1,700 yuan in 2018.

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