Xiamen cultural industries fair boosts cross-Straits integration

The 10th Cross-Straits (Xiamen) Cultural Industries Fair kicks off on Nov 3 in Xiamen, Fujian province's second-largest city, showcasing a cultural feast for industrial insiders, visitors and cultural content providers.

With the support of governmental departments, including the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, Ministry of Culture, State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television and Fujian's provincial government, the fair prepares the way for investment and trade in the industry.

The organizers have divided the fair into four major parts, highlighting the latest trends in artwork; creative design; digital content, film and television; as well as cultural and creative tourism.

Through the exhibition, the organizers hope to demonstrate the convergence of the cultural industry, featuring characteristics of both Fujian and Taiwan.

On the theme of Inheriting the Past and Innovating the Future, the fair not only promotes communication in the cultural industry, but also aims to strengthen Xiamen's role in connecting the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

As a platform to connect the market with potential funding, the fair this year is offering several activities for the first time. One new event is a promotion conference on the excellent cultural projects generated on the Ministry of Culture's platform. It has also set up art galleries and auctions for exquisite artwork made by both Fujian and Taiwan-based artists.

An exhibition of artificial intelligence products and weiqi, known in English as go, aim to inspire cultural and technological convergence.

Xu Boyi, a collector from Taiwan, brought his treasured piece to the exhibition - Portrait of Genghis Khan, which depicts the founding father of the Mongolian empire. This is the first time that the 800-year-old portrait has been publicly exhibited in the Chinese mainland.

Some treasured Chinese artworks regarded as intangible cultural heritage will also be unveiled at the exhibition, including Putian wood carvings, Dehua white porcelain and Jianzhan porcelain, which literally means tea bowls fired in kilns.

The fair will embrace the film and television industry with a large number of themed exhibitions. The Xiamen film and television industry promotion conference will also take place during the fair. Famous cartoon heroes that used to only appear on the TV screen will attend the fair. Ali, the red fox, and characters from Peppa Pig will be guests at the promotion conference.

The innovative cultural tourism section will continue to flourish at the fair, as it did during past sessions. Tourism projects involving the Taiwan shopping festival and featuring tourism towns will be highlights.

In the 10 years since the fair was set up, it has committed to deepening cross-Straits cultural exchanges and industrial development.

A large number of business insiders in Taiwan regard the fair as the first-tier platform to stride into the mainland market. Most of the time, they attend the fair in groups.

In the past 10 years, Fujian companies have continually absorbed the advanced experience of and new talent from Taiwan, which has greatly facilitated the development of the cultural and creative industries in the province. Take Xiamen for example. In 2008, the added value of the city's cultural industry totaled 8.61 billion yuan ($1.3 billion). In 2015, the number reached 17.52 billion yuan.

In 2016, Xiamen's cultural industry's overall output value reached 115 billion yuan. The industry scale ranks in the top 10 in China, according to the fair's organizers.

Through 10 years of effort, the fair has grown considerably. Its exhibition area increased from 20,000 square meters in the first year to 65,000 sq m last year.

The number of exhibition booths increased from 964 in the first session to 3,250 last year. The number of exhibitors increased from 501 to 1,704 in the same time period.

Last year, the total volume of contracts signed at the fair hit 30.39 billion yuan, roughly six times the amount of the first term.