3. A comparison of cultural and tourism industries in China and Japan
In March 2018, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism was founded, combining the functions of the China National Tourism Administration and the Ministry of Culture, as part of the country's effort to promote integrated development of the two industries.
To analyze their integrated development, we found a correlation coefficient of 0.55 between the 2019 ranking of culture, sports and entertainment radiation and inbound tourism. Correlation coefficients are used to measure the strength of the relationship between two variables. The stronger the association between the two variables, the closer the coefficient will incline toward 1, while 0.55 demonstrates a not so close relationship between the two.
Using the same method, we found a high correlation coefficient of 0.82 between the culture, sports and entertainment radiation for 47 prefectures in Japan and the country's inbound tourism. A coefficient of over 0.8 indicates a very strong association between the two variables. That is to say, Japanese cities with stronger culture, sports and entertainment radiation attract more overseas tourists.
Compared to Japan, China's culture and tourism industry is not as integrated as its neighbor.
After WWII, Japan built the world's second largest economy based on manufacturing. In 2003, the Japanese government put forward the idea of making Japan a tourism-based country. That year, the number of inbound tourists was only 5.21 million, ranking 31st in the world.
The country's tourism industry quickly took off and the number of inbound travel surged under the Abe administration. By 2019, the number of inbound visits surged to 31.88 million.
From 2003 to 2018, the number of inbound tourists in Japan grew by 500%, compared to 110% in Germany, 90% in China and the U.S., 60% in Spain and the U.K., and 20% in France. By 2018, Japan had ranked 11th in the number of inbound tourists, compared to 31st in 2003.
It's interesting to see that there is a relatively low correlation coefficient of 0.45 between inbound travels and domestic travels in China while a relatively high correlation of 0.87 in that of Japan. A high correlation means that cities popular among inbound tourists is also popular among domestic tourists, while a low correlation is just the opposite.
One reason for the low correlations in China is that many of the inbound visits in Chinese mainland are Chinese compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan who travel frequently in coastal cities in Guangdong and Fujian, which has caused the "decoupling" of inbound and domestic travelers.
4. Manufacturing industry VS IT industry
After analyzing the correlation between the 2019 culture, sports and entertainment radiation and the manufacturing radiation based on 297 cities at prefecture level or above across China, we found a correlation coefficient of 0.43 between the cultural industry and the manufacturing industry, which is relatively low. The analysis of the 2019 culture, sports, entertainment radiation and manufacturing radiation for 47 prefectures in Japan found a coefficient of minus 0.5, showing a mutually exclusive relationship between the two industries. From the comparative analysis of the relationship between the cultural radiation and the manufacturing radiation in China and Japan, we saw that there is no interactive development pattern between the two industries in China or Japan.
In the early years of China's reform and opening up, provinces and cities across China attracted foreign investment through arts and culture. Art shows and film festivals, for instance, were hosted to attracted foreign investors. Commenting the approach, Zhao Qizheng, who was the first director of the Management Committee of Pudong New Area, criticized that this practice was not feasible, because "men of letters and artists do not invest, and entrepreneurs do not watch shows." His judgement proved true, given that the economic structure back then was dominated by the manufacturing industry.
However, the relationship between the cultural industry and the IT industry is another picture, as the IT industry serves as the new driving force for the current economy. After analyzing the correlation between the 2019 culture, sports and entertainment radiation and the IT industry radiation of 297 cities at prefecture level or above cities in China, we found a coefficient of 0.94, showing a "complete correlation" relationship. The same analysis of 47 prefectures in Japan showed a correlation coefficient of 0.97 between them, higher than that of China. The analyses concluded that no matter in China or Japan, the IT industry must be located in a city with a strong cultural industry. The development of the two industries is closely related and develop synchronously.
