Creative city has designs on cooperation

Alliances for industrial design and cross-border cooperation will be founded in Shanghai this week to boost the culture and creation industry, one of the city’s pillar industries.

In 2019, the industry’s GDP hit 332.9 billion yuan (US$49 billion), accounting for 8.73 percent of the city’s total GDP, the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization said.

Shanghai joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a City of Design in 2010 and various events are being held to mark the 10th anniversary. 

Shanghai, along with three neighboring provinces, is to establish a Yangtze River Delta design alliance. An international academic alliance on design will also be founded. 

Between 2012 and 2019, Shanghai’s design industry GDP growth hit 14 percent a year on average. It has 137 city-level culture and design parks covering 7 million square meters, which are home to over 20,000 enterprises contributing combined revenue of 550 billion yuan.

Shanghai has held events to boost international cooperation in design with partners in cities including New York, London and Venice.

The city is home to eight national-level industrial design centers, including one at the top chip maker in the Chinese mainland SMIC, and 32 city-level industrial design centers.