Shanghai to boost cultural and creative industries

The city government on Thursday announced a raft of measures to boost Shanghai's cultural and creative industries, with the aim of increasing their share in the local economy and give the city another competitive edge.

The measures cover film and television, performing arts, animation and games, internet culture, creative design, publishing, art and culture-related equipment.

Through the measures, the government hopes to build more cultural hubs in Shanghai, offer more incentives for industry startups and attract more international industry names to the city.

Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong said that developing the cultural and creative industries is part of the city’s overall strategy to upgrade its economic and industrial structure and build an innovation-driven economy.

“Cultural and creative industries feature higher knowledge, high added value and low energy consumption and pollution,” he said. “They also contribute a lot to boost employment.”

Ying said the city looks to leading metropolises in the world to make cultural and creatives industries a pillar in building a “global city of excellence.”

The mayor revealed that currently cultural and creative industries account for 12.1 percent of Shanghai’s GDP, but their share is expected to increase to 15 percent by 2022 and 18 percent by 2030.