A forum was held at the Nanjing International Exhibition Center on Friday to explore the fusion of culture with science and technology, to boost China's cultural industry.
The forum was a highlight during the eighth Cultural and Creative Industry Fair in Nanjing, which lasted for three days and concluded on Sunday.
Jiang Yuejian, deputy head of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology, said during the opening speech: "Art can fly with wings of technology, and technology can fly higher with wings of culture. Technology advance has become a strong impetus driving culture prosperity".
The rapid growth of internet technology has highly boosted the cultural industry, including the copyright industry, while it also brings challenges to the orderly development of the cultural industry, Duan Yuping, a deputy head from National Copyright Administration of China, said at the forum.
"Up to June of 2016, the number of netizens has increased to 710 million, with mobile phone internet users reaching 656 million in China", Duan said. "Among the top 10 internet applications, the netnews applications occupy 82%, network video 70.8%, network music 70.8%, online game 55.1%, net literature 43.3%, which are all cultural industry-related."
China has introduced a series of measures to regulate the internet to better develop the cultural industry. In a special move to crack down on online piracy, China's copyright administrative departments have investigated more than 5,000 cases, closed nearly 3,000 websites, collected penalties of 15 million yuan ($2.2 million), and handed down criminal sanctions in 450 cases, according to Duan.
"We hope the cultural industry can grow stronger through means of new technology using the internet, while at the same time, internet is not beyond the law control. Only by regulating the internet, could traditional industry be in win-win progress with internet and new technology", Duan said.
Chen Liang, chief executive of Suning Universal Corp, Liu Han, head of the publisher group www.ChineseAll.com, Qi Shuyu, a director from the Chinese Academy of Governance, and Lu Wei, creator of SkyFilm, gave keynote speeches at the forum and talked about the cultural industry from different perspectives.
A summit dialogue was later held among guests from the technology, finance and culture fields. Zhang Shuwu, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, raised the concept of "culture 4.0", explaining that "culture 2.0" was transforming depending on culture, while "culture 3.0" meant technicians engaged in cultural activities and "culture 4.0" demonstrates the whole of society getting involved in the cultural industry.
A project introduction and promotional meeting was held later that day and supported by the cultural industry project service platform of China's Ministry of Culture, with 24 projects signed at the site and the transaction volume reaching more than 7 billion yuan.
The eighth Cultural and Creative Industry Fair in Nanjing is themed "Culture+, New Creation, New Commercial Type and New Economy", focusing on emerging industries such as digital entertainment, modern original design, new network media and smart tourism, strengthening the integration of culture with technology, finance, tourism, and the internet.
