The 18th International Cultural Industries Fair

The China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (hereinafter referred to as “ICIF”) is a national cultural industry fair co-organized by the propaganda department of the communist party of China (National Press and Publication Administration, National Copyright Administration, state film bureau), the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, the State Administration of Radio and Television, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the People’s Government of Guangdong Province and the People’s Government of Shenzhen Municipality, and co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on a rotating basis.

The 18th ICIF will focus on “highlighting the innovation-driven and implementation of the national cultural digitization strategy, stimulating the vitality of cultural innovation and creation” as the main highlight, and create a fruitful exhibition and trading platform with the inheritance and development of excellent Chinese traditional culture, cultural tourism integration and cultural consumption, foreign cultural cooperation and exchange, and innovation in the form of exposition and trading.

The scale of the China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair has increased from 43,000 square meters in the first event to 120,000 square meters in the 17th; the number of exhibitors has increased from more than 700 in the first event to 2,468 in the 17th (plus 868 online exhibitors); the cumulative turnover of the first 17 events has exceeded 2 trillion yuan …… With the scale of the exhibition, the number of visitors and the transaction results climbing year after year, the influence of the Fair has become bigger and bigger, the brand effect has become more and more visible, and its influence has become stronger and stronger, becoming one of the most effective and influential exhibitions China’s cultural industry of the highest specification and with the largest scale. It is also known as “the first exhibition of China’s cultural industry”. At present, the added value of the cultural industry in Shenzhen has exceeded 250 billion yuan, accounting for 8% of the city’s GDP. With more than 100,000 legal entities and more than 1 million employees,  the overall development level is at the forefront of the country.

A total of 3,402 government delegations, cultural institutions and enterprises exhibited at this year’s Fair, which is the thirteenth time the fair has achieved the participation of all 31 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. This is also the ninth time the fair has achieved the participation of all 21 municipalities in the Guangdong Province.

Among the exhibitors, the leading enterprises in the national cultural industry accounted for more than 70%, and more than 40% of the cultural products and projects had their first appearance at the fair.

In addition, it also attracted 300 overseas cultural institutions and enterprises from 30 countries and regions to participate in the exhibition. A total of 10,931 overseas buyers from 108 countries and regions including France, Germany and Pakistan registered to view the exhibition and purchase online.

As a major province with advanced development in the cultural industry, Guangdong Province’s Guangdong Pavilion has also attracted much attention. In 2020, the added value of Guangdong’s cultural industry reached 621 billion yuan, accounting for 5.59% of the province’s GDP, ranking first among all provinces and municipalities in China for many consecutive years. The Guangdong Pavilion set up five sections of exhibition areas, 67 provincial head cultural enterprises and more than 700 pieces of cultural products, revolving around the development goal of “establishing the vanguard of digital culture, a new high ground of culture and creativity, demonstrate the integration of culture and tourism”, presenting the creative transformation of Lingnan culture, and the charm of innovative development.