The Principal Social Contradiction Change Brings New Opportunities for China’s Cultural Industries

By Zhang Yuling

The report given by Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC, on October 18 condensed CPC governance experience for the past five years, and laid out the blueprint for China’s development through 2020 and on into the middle of the century. It is a report that draws lessons from the past and looks into the future.

In the 7^th part of the report – Building Stronger Cultural Confidence and Helping Socialist Culture to Flourish – Xi specifically pointed out the need to “promote the development of cultural programs and industries” and set out guidelines for the development of China’s cultural industries:

“To meet the people’s new aspirations for a better life, we must provide them with rich intellectual nourishment. We need to deepen structural reform of the cultural sector, improve the cultural management system, and accelerate the establishment of systems and mechanisms that put social benefits first while pursuing economic returns…

“We will improve modern systems for cultural industries and markets, explore new mechanisms for cultural production and operation, improve economic policy on the development of the cultural sector, and develop new forms of business in this sector…

“We will strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges with other countries, giving prominence to Chinese culture while also drawing on other cultures. We will improve our capacity for engaging in international communication so as to tell China’s stories well, present a true, multi-dimensional, and panoramic view of China, and enhance our country’s cultural soft power.”

“A “Fresh Face” for China’s Cultural Industries”

In the past, some people have been overcautious about the cultural industry. However, the report of the 19^th National Congress has helped to make clear its purpose and its themes, to break the shackles of old notions and ways of thinking, and provide guarantees for the development of our cultural industries, which will allow them to stride forward as one of the pillar industries of China’s domestic economy.

China will not only seek to make its cultural industries bigger and stronger, and encourage them to produce better works, but will also make them part of the strategy for developing a great socialist culture in China. The development of our cultural industries will accelerate the transition of the economic development model, be a part of the forces promoting the all-round development of the economy and society, and push socialism with Chinese characteristics forward into a new era.

One of the highlights of the report is the adjustment to the definition of the principal contradiction facing Chinese society. This was formerly described as the principal contradiction “between the ever-growing material and cultural needs of the people and backward social production” a definition which had applied for more than 3 decades since the 1980s. The 19^th National Congress has adjusted this to “the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life.” The evolution of this assessment has been made in accordance with the development of China’s economy and society, its rapid growth, and the fact that China has become the second largest economy in the world.

Bring new market opportunities to China’s cultural industry in a new era

Driving Growth and Upgrading Consumption

The total size of Chinese economy will break RMB 80 trillion ( approximately USD 12 trillion) barrier this year.

During the implementation of the 13^th Five-year Plan, per capita GDP in China is expected to exceed 10,000 USD. China has gone through the process of “rising to its feet” and is now heading toward the stage of “growing prosperous and becoming strong”. This transition will require and result in a bigger cultural market.

According to 19^th National Congress of CPC, in 2035, 15 years after the First Centenary Goal is achieved, The Chinese society will be one in which “people are leading more comfortable lives, and the size of the middle-income group has grown considerably. Disparities in urban-rural development, in development between regions, and in living standards are significantly reduced; equitable access to basic public services is basically ensured; and solid progress has been made toward prosperity for everyone.”

Such a society will provide fertile soil for the rapid growth of China’s cultural industries. It will drive growth in the consumption of cultural products, in both quantity and quality.

In particular with the growing middle-income group, there will be an increasing number of Chinese people who pursue quality of life and an aesthetic lifestyle, hence high-value-added products and highly customized consumption ideas will be promoted, and mass production of homogenized items will be scaled down.

The evolution of the principal contradiction facing Chinese society is an historic change that will bring about new demands and present our cultural industries with a fresh field to play.

The 19^th National Congress has specified the new demands as below:

Cultural Industries Should Provide Rich Quality Products

Culture is a country and nation’s soul. Our country will thrive only if our culture thrives, and our nation will be strong only if our culture is strong. Without full confidence in our culture, without a rich and prosperous culture, the Chinese nation will not be able to rejuvenate itself. The 19^th National Congress has made culture development a key element of national rejuvenation, and emphasized that “We must develop a socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, inspire the cultural creativity of our whole nation, and develop a great socialist culture in China.”

The added value of China’s cultural and related industries was 1.8 trillion RMB (273 billion USD) in 2012. In 2016 it surpassed 3 trillion RMB (457 billion USD) for the first time. Its share of GDP rose from 3.48% in 2012 to 4.07% in 2016. According to the requirement to “accelerate the establishment of systems and mechanisms that put social benefits first while pursuing economic returns”, the future development of cultural industries should combine social benefits with economic returns, with social benefit prevails, and should promote both volume and quality.

The report of the 19^th National Congress places a high premium on traditional Chinese culture and requires cultural industries to tap into traditional Chinese culture as a source of rejuvenation.

To achieve this, the report also points out specific methods: draw on China’s fine traditional culture, keep alive and develop its vision, concepts, values, and moral norms, and do so in a way that responds to the call of our era. With this we will see that Chinese culture maintains its appeal and evolves with the times.

Continue to Drive Deeper Reform of the Cultural Sector; Activate the Vitality of Cultural Industries.

Reform of the cultural sector has no “perfect tense”; it is always progressive. The need to deepen structural reform of the cultural sector, improve the cultural management system, and accelerate the establishment of systems and mechanisms that put social benefits first while pursuing economic returns will never end. During the process, we must respect the law of the market, improve modern systems for cultural industries and markets, explore new mechanisms for cultural production and operation, improve economic policy on the development of the cultural sector, and further activate the creative cultural vitality of the whole of society.

Culture and Technology Work as Two Wheels to Drive Innovation in the Cultural Sector

In the past five years, the cultural sector has actively applied the “Internet Plus” strategy. Culture and technology have worked as two wheels to promote the rapid development of online literature, music, movies, performances and animation. Methods of cultural consumption have changed significantly, and new space for the development of China’s cultural industries has expanded as well.

Powered by internet plus, the cultural information transmission services saw its revenue increased by 30.3% in 2016, and became the No.1 in the 10 culture-related industries.

Digital innovation will be one of the pillars of China’s strategic emerging industries during the 13^th Five-year Plan.

Innovation in products, services and business models has made our cultural industries the most active field of innovation. In 2016, the number of new businesses in cultural and culture-related industries reached 718,700, with year-on-year growth of 21.3%.

Their registered capital reached 4.13 trillion RMB (0.62 trillion USD), with year-on-year growth of 60.4%. This was 15.8 percentage points higher than the average growth of the total registered capital of new business start-ups, which was 44.6%.

In the future, China’s cultural industries will have to explore the new demands of their customers for a better life, and continue to enrich their offering, optimize their supply structure, engage in innovative commercial activities, promote better content and quality in their output, and apply internet and information technology to spread their coverage. In so doing so they can help solve the problem of “unbalanced and inadequate” development in the cultural sector, and contribute to meet the people’s need for a better life.

(Source: Adapted from New Vision of Cultural Industries

By Zhang Yuling, deputy-director of Institute of Cultural Industries, Guangming Daily)