More quality needed to win cultural cash

Sophisticated Chinese consumers want greater variety, better choices

Chinese people are becoming more discerning about the type of cultural experience they want to spend their money on, participants at an international fair in Shenzhen said on Thursday.

The 15th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair attracted 132 organizations from 50 countries and regions, with foreign exhibitors taking up 20 percent of the exhibition space.

Adam Bralczyk, Poland's consul general, based in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, said as Chinese consumers grow more mature they are becoming more "demanding and critical of new products".

"No one in the world can disregard the huge Chinese market," he said. "The economic development of China has allowed the country to thrive economically, made Chinese well-off and turned them into more demanding customers."

Bralczyk said Poland wanted to show something different at the fair by promoting gaming and tourism. He said the gaming industry in Poland was one of the most robust in the world.

"That's why we decided to bring the most sophisticated products for Chinese consumers," he said.

Bralczyk said the laws and regulations of various countries remained an obstacle to the free exchange of online games.

"This is an obstacle countries can work on to speed up the process of development in the gaming industry and internet services all over the world," he said.

Summer Wang, vice-president of Association France-Shenzhen, said it's the fourth year that France has taken part in the fair, with five French companies attending.

"We want to take advantage of this opportunity to let Chinese people know more deeply about France, that it is not only a country of romance. It is also developed in literature and art," Wang said.

She added that the French people's understanding of Chinese culture, especially Shenzhen's, is growing rapidly thanks to the fair.

"Years ago, many people in France knew little about Shenzhen. Now, they know it is a young and vibrant city with innovative capability."

China's cultural industry has seen robust growth in recent years. Last year, total revenue in the culture sector and related businesses hit 8.93 trillion yuan ($1.31 trillion), increasing 8.2 percent year-on-year, according to a survey by the National Bureau of Statistics of more than 60,000 enterprises across the country.

News and information services saw the fastest growth, generating 810 billion yuan in revenue, up 24 percent from a year earlier, followed by creative design services and cultural transmission, which grew 16.5 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

The fair will run until May 20. More than 100,000 cultural and creative products from across the world are on display and 6,000 culture-related investment and financing projects are being promoted.