Cultural Industry Seeks More Channels of Finance

Despite strong performances by some Chinese companies in their cultural creative marketing, licensing and even in the development of home-grown games and other products with foreign appeal, the cultural and creative industry still faces obstacles when it comes to getting financing for its operations and research and development.

Since the Beijing Municipal Government has high hopes for the development of the cultural and creative industry, it has earmarked funds to help foster the industry’s development, which is populated by companies that often started out small but got big in a hurry.

Still, non-governmental investors will be involved in any long-term solution to the industry’s financing problems, sources said.

According to the Report on Development of China’s Cultural Industry 2007, 82.09 percent of the enterprise representatives interviewed said China’s cultural and creative industry needs more policy support and industrial guidance; more than 60 percent of the enterprises reported they needed additional capital support, but more than that, they said the industry can only thrive in a social environment that provides more educational assistance, better training programmes and support for developing industry-leading technicians and managers; a better social environment for creativity and innovation; a broader consumer market for cultural creative products; and improvements in all other areas of social-economic life that may affect the industry’s development.

But everything begins with financing: something that is a major bottleneck for China’s cultural and creative industry, said Yang Gan, the director of Beijing Cultural and Creative Industry Promotion Centre.

Among the applications for special governmental funds in this area in 2007, some 386 projects sought 7 billion yuan (US$947.8 million) in financial assistance. Yet, the government had dedicated only 500 million yuan (US$67.7 million) to this project and could fund only 60 programmes.

A breakthrough is needed.

The Second China (Beijing) International Cultural & Creative Industry Expo (ICCIE), which closed on November 11, 2007, involved 220 innovative programmes that succeeded in concluding intents to cooperate, contracts or other agreements totalling US$3.83 billion in value. Yet, this is “dust in the wind” compared to cultural investments being made outside of China. Without additional funding streams for the cultural creative industry, its potential as a “sunrise” industry cannot be realized. In 2004, China’s cultural and creative industry investment amounted to about 2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product; this may be compared with about 5 percent in Canada and 5 percent–6 percent elsewhere in Asia.

The China Cultural & Creative Industry International Investment and Financing Conference, a special event organized by the ICCIE, attracted a lot of attention from overseas investors such as the Carlyle Group, WI Harper Group, CBC International Corporation and The Hina Group, with overseas businessmen accounting for more than half of the conference’s participants. Risk and venture capital was involved in nearly half of the deals made at the expo.

Because of the ICCIE’s prominence, various and effective capital connections and the ability to engage in one-on-one negotiations (including matters of finance), the ICCIE was able to feature more than 800 programmes involving 24 provinces or municipalities. About 70 percent of the programmes involved original creative programmes.

But Chinese investors were also active at the expo through such domestic investment organizations as Bright Oceans Corporation, Beijing High Technology Venture Capital Company Limited, Stanley & Partners Investment Management (China) Company Limited, China Environment Fund of Tsinghua Venture Capital, DFJ DragonFund China and Beijing An Cai Venture Capital.

On November 10, the Beijing cultural and creative industry investment and financing service was launched on the China Beijing Equity Exchange. That day, 219 creative programmes were promoted in search of investment. These programmes involved art performances, the copyright trade, film and TV programmes and online computer games in eight categories: total funding sought was valued at about 10 billion yuan (US$1.35 billion). On the same day, the Cyber Recreation District and Jiuzhou Haixia Creative Cultural Industrial Garden signed a contract worth 850 million yuan (US$115.1 million) and an intent agreement valued at 500 million yuan (US$67.7 million).

The China Beijing Equity Exchange will take advantage of its global investor networks to seek additional financing for the cultural creative industry.

Also reported were the efforts of the Beijing Cultural Creative Industry Promotion Centre, which has signed cooperation agreements with financial institutions such as the Bank of Beijing and the Bank of Communications Beijing Branch to make loans available to creative enterprises. To build bridges between the cultural creative industry and capital markets, Beijing has a long way to go.

Yan said the Beijing Municipal Government will support more cultural creative industry-related financing guarantee organizations and special guarantee funds, adding, “Relying on displays and promotions, investment and financial services platforms, in seven or eight years, some giants are expected to emerge within the cultural creative industry.”

搭建融资平台 助力产业发展

文/杜秀萍

融资难已经成为阻碍文化创意产业快速发展的瓶颈。北京市安排财政专项资金对文化创意企业给予资金支持，对于缓解文化创意企业的资金缺口起到了很好的推动作用。但从长远看，文化创意产业的持续快速发展还需要社会资金的进入，这将是根本解决文化创意企业融资瓶颈的必然选择。

由文化部、广播电影电视总局、新闻出版总署、北京市人民政府联合主办的第二届中国（北京）国际文化创意产业博览会（简称“文博会”）期间，文博会组委会办公室、北京市文化创意产业促进中心、北京产权交易所举办了“北京文化创意产业投融资项目推介会”。

上百个项目参加推介

本次项目推介会是为文化创意企业与投资者搭建一个交流接洽的平台，推动文化创意产业与资本的对接，为文化创意企业拓宽融资渠道，缓解融资难的问题；帮助投资机构、投资人寻找适宜的投资机会和目标，引导金融资本和社会资本参与文化创意产业的发展，推动北京市文化创意产业健康、快速发展。

组委会相关负责人介绍，在本届文博会上，有近百个文化创意类项目参加推介，超过60家海内外投资机构、投资人对文化创意产业项目表示出浓厚的兴趣。在推介会上，组委会向投资机构择优重点推介部分项目，并编制项目推介集向投资机构、投资人发放，同时还开展了面对面现场洽谈。

第二届文博会期间，有21个文化创意产业相关项目进驻集聚区；文艺演出、出版发行、版权贸易、影视节目制作交易、设计创意、动漫与网络游戏研发制作、古玩艺术品交易、文化旅游等220个合作意向和协议项目参加推介。

融资项目签约总额超百亿元

闭幕式上举行了本届文博会主场的最后一场签约活动。

中国经济报刊协会新媒体专业委员会、世界华人联合集团、香港世华集团、香港意祥实业有限公司等42家单位和企业分别就文化创意产业基地建设、报刊数字资源运营平台、制作动画片、旅游开发、文化产品交易中心、动漫网络游戏开发、科研教育等21个文化创意产业相关项目签署合作协议，共计56.04亿元。

据不完全统计，第二届文博会期间共签署集聚区项目入驻、文艺演出、出版发行、版权贸易、影视节目制作交易、设计创意、动漫与网络游戏研发制作、古玩艺术品交易、文化旅游等合作意向、协议220个，总金额38.27亿美元。与2006年相比，本届文博会签约项目结构发生可喜变化，一是文化创意产品和服务的交易明显增加，现场交易和拍卖额比首届增长1.72倍；二是集聚区项目入驻和产业链延伸项目比2006年明显增加，显示出文化创意产业集聚区经过一年的建设，已具有了较强的产业聚集和拓展功能，产业链整合取得较大进展；三是兄弟省区市签约项目大幅度增长，其中河北、江西分别在会上签订了75亿元和近37亿元的产业合作大单。

签约范围涵盖24个省市

中国文化创意产业国际投融资洽谈会是文博会为中国文化创意项目吸引资金而设立的专场洽谈，采用资本对接、一对一封闭式约谈、融资区域性洽谈等多种形式，共征集到来自全国24个省、自治区、直辖市的800多个项目，其中自主创新项目所占比重已接近项目总量的70%。

一批风险投资、创业投资和天使投资首次参加文博会投资洽谈活动，风投和创投机构所占比重已接近投资商的半数。美国凯雷投资集团、美国中经合集团、德丰杰龙脉中国基金、美国汉富资本、汉能投资集团等世界著名投资公司也参加本次洽谈会。

大批内资投资机构首次集体亮相，其中有北京高科技术创业投资股份有限公司、亿阳集团、基强联行投资管理有限公司、北京安彩科技风险投资公司、青云创业投资管理公司中国环境基金等。从海外专程赶来参加洽谈的客商人数首次超过50%。