The development of advanced technologies is injecting strong vitality into the copyright industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, where the copyright industry is showing strong growth momentum, regulators and experts say.

Qianhai, a Shenzhen-Hong Kong pilot cooperation zone in Shenzhen. [File photoNanfang Daily]

Xu Wei, an official with the copyright administration of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said that exploring new ideas and approaches to promoting copyright protection is vital in the digital era, when new technologies such as 5G and blockchain are bringing significant changes to the traditional industry landscape.

With industry becoming more digitalized and internet-based, the integration of content, technology and business is also accelerating, giving strong momentum to the development of the copyright industry.

"The copyright industry has become a pillar of the Chinese economy and it is in a period of steady growth," Xu said at the Shenzhen Copyright Industry Summit Forum held in Guangdong province on Dec 14.

He said he believes Guangdong can play a significant role in promoting the copyright industry's growth, given that it has unique advantages in information technology, with a large number of high-tech enterprises and copyright owners.

Chen Mingang, director of the intellectual property promotion division of Shenzhen's market supervision authority, said that the Shenzhen government attaches great importance to copyright protection.

The city has introduced a series of copyright-related regulations and guidelines with the aim of creating a sound environment for development of the industry.

"In the coming five years, we are going to launch a number of large copyright-related projects, including the establishment of a copyright base in Qianhai, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation zone," Chen said.

He added that the city government will step up its efforts to combat copyright infringements and further enhance its copyright protection law enforcement.

As a major part of the copyright industry, culture and entertainment and related sectors have seen significant growth in the Bay Area over the past years.

According to the latest report by Tencent Research Institute, the added value of culture and related sectors in the Bay Area amounted to 545.8 billion yuan ($78 billion) in 2018, an increase of 8.5 percent year-on-year and accounting for roughly 5 percent of the region's total GDP.

The Bay Area also plays a key role in the overall development of the cultural industry and related sectors in China, with the regional output accounting for 13.7 percent of the country's total last year, the report said.

Si Xiao, head of the institute and president of the Shenzhen Copyright Society, said the development of new-generation information technologies, such as artificial intelligence, 5G and the internet of things, has brought new opportunities for the growth of the copyright industry.

Industry organizations and research institutions should play their roles as "platform builders, servers, explorers, regulators and researchers" to help push forward its development, he said.