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Cultural & Creative Industry Expo (ICCIE)

A computer-based video game that encourages people to exercise instead of sitting bleary-eyed in front of a glowing video monitor would be a good idea, wouldn’t it?

Creative students at the Beijing University of Technology have invented just such a computer-game programme that serves as a base for all kinds of video games, including a boxing game and playing device that was demonstrated at the First China Beijing International Cultural & Creative Industry Expo (ICCIE) in mid-December 2006 during the ICCIE’s Capital University Student’s Creativity Culture Festival segment of the Expo.

In the boxing game demonstrated at the show, a pair of electronic gloves was worn by the participants who, though battling in a virtual world, were sweating and breathless within a matter of minutes. The secret of the game’s success lay in the gloves used, which relied upon Bluetooth technology to mimic the players’ moves on a game machine that also tallied points scored. The game machine was designed by students of the Beijing University of Technology, who created the game and device to give video-game players a chance to exercise while playing games.

“This is better than just sitting in front of the computer,” said a spectator named Li Shuanghe, a senior college student. “It gives our eyes a break and helps us exercise.”

The exhibition of excellent works from the Capital University Students’ Creativity Culture Festival was just one in a series of activities at the first ICCIE held December 11–14, 2006, at the China International Exhibition Centre. The focus of the Expo was on the integration of cultural and creative industry resources to build a complete industry chain and promote the export of China’s cultural and creative products.

In addition to 40,000 square metres of exhibitions, there were art performances, creative activities, presentations, trade fairs and forums showcasing products. China’s culture, high technology and creativity, the ideas of “creativity” and a crying need for intellectual property rights protection–both foreign and domestic–were highlighted during the Expo.

The need to create cultural and creative industry clusters and for favourable policies benefiting the fast growth of the cultural and creative industries were also emphasized.

For starters, the Beijing Municipal Government has implemented favourable tax policies for new companies, including the authorization of a tax exemption that will continue for two years after a company makes profit. It also pledged to help create an annual fund of 500 million yuan (US$63.86 million) that can be used to invest in key products, services or projects in the cultural and creative industry sphere.

The four-day expo attracted 150,000 visitors and resulted in the signing of US$3.76 billion worth of contracts, agreements and cooperative plans.

The ICCIE reflects China’s ambition to make a transition from its status as a “manufacturing centre” to a nation that produces many more high-value-added original products.

“China plans to enter the array of creation-oriented nations within 15 years,” said Sun Jiazheng, chairman of the organizing committee of the ICCIE at the opening ceremony. “The Expo will raise the public’s awareness of creativity and thus propel the progress.”

The key to sound growth of the cultural and creative industry is an effective protection of intellectual-property rights, which was highlighted at the Expo.

With the transition to the digital age,effective protection of intellectual property rights is a daunting task, because copying of digital products costs practically nothing. A survey conducted by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) indicates that pirated audio and video products available via the Internet are causing losses of at least US$ 5 billion in this economic sector.

Advanced digital copyright registration and protection systems were demonstrated at the Expo. These technologies can be used to print watermarks on products once they are registered to prevent illegal copying and distribution.

The “Copyright Union of Chinese Enterprises,” initiated and joined by six renowned enterprises such as Sina and Microsoft China, was also founded on December 11, 2006. The union will take action to uncover companies that violate copyrights and to alert its members of such violations. It will also encourage companies to participate in its programmes, with the support of the government.

Cultural industries account for more than 10 percent (18 percent–25 percent in the United States) of the gross domestic product (GDP) of most developed countries. By the end of 2005, the cartoon and animation-related market in Japan had exceeded 2 trillion yen (US$ 16.82 billion) in value, becoming the third-largest industry in its economy.

“Cultural and creative industries have become the trend for the whole world, including developed countries like Britain, the United States, Japan and South Korea,” said John Hawkins, a British creative-economy expert, who first come up with the idea, at a forum during the Expo.

During the past 20 years, China’s rapidly growing economy was buttressed mainly by its manufacturing sector, which overcame low profit margins thanks to China’s relatively inexpensive labour costs. But a price was paid; the manufacturing industries caused serious environmental problems. Stereotypically and economically senseless production and “imitation” ended up hindering China’s long-term development. Simple imitation also resulted in an increase of intellectual-property right disputes that hinder China’s development even today.