The Forum on Empowering Cultural Trade with Digital and Intelligent Technologies was held in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, on May 27, as part of the Forum on Building China's Cultural Strength 2025.
Experts, officials, and executives engaged in discussions and shared experiences across multiple dimensions, including policy support, industry practices, and the coordinated globalization of culture and branding.
Jiang Xiaojuan, a professor at the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and former deputy secretary-general of the State Council, delivered a keynote speech on how digital and intelligent technologies drive the development of cultural trade. She introduced four fundamental models of cultural trade. To facilitate the global expansion of China’s cultural industry, all parties need to continually advance innovation and upgrade their digital and intelligent technologies.
The revitalization of traditional culture has also drawn significant attention. “We have already completed data collection for 52% of the Palace Museum’s artifacts using digital technology. Currently, we are advancing at a pace of 70,000 items per year,” said Wang Xudong, Director of the Palace Museum.
“We must fully utilize the capabilities and opportunities of this digital and intelligent era to revitalize the excellent traditional Chinese culture embodied in the Palace Museum,” Wang added.
Yang Jun, senior vice president of 37 Interactive Entertainment, shared how the company integrates rich elements of Chinese heritage into its games to attract overseas gamers to travel to China. He also highlighted the application of AI technology across multiple stages of game development, including design, publishing, and operations.
As a leading representative of China's modern designer toy culture embraced by fans worldwide, Chen Xiaoyun, vice president of POP MART, emphasized the attitude Chinese enterprises should uphold when going global: "We don't need to look up to the world, nor do we wish to look down on it. We should look at the world at equal eye level."
At the policy roundtable, officials from relevant departments presented the latest policy measures aimed at promoting high-quality development in cultural trade.
In the afternoon, three industry roundtables took place, centered around the themes of digital cultural trade expanding global markets, intelligent technology empowering traditional IPs for global competitiveness, and brand + culture empowering global expansion. The roundtables explored the frontiers of cultural trade, from emerging models to traditional renewal, sharing best practices in the digital era and building broad industry consensus.
The forum showcased all aspects of China's cultural trade and its determination to continue developing in the digital and intelligent age.
Reporter | Dai Bosi
Photo | Dai Bosi
Editor | Ouyang Yan, Hu Nan, James, Shen He
