Just as housing and cars drive today's consumption in China, the
cultural industry including cultural and entertainment products and
services will be an engine of economic growth, a top Beijing-based
think-tank says.
And the cultural industry can be tuned to play a harmonious
note: promoting coordinated development among different regions,
the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said in a yearbook published
yesterday.
Zhang Xiaoming, a researcher with the academy, said as
decision-makers formulate development schemes for the 11th
Five-Year Plan (2006-10), they may count on the cultural industry
to enhance co-operation and reduce competition among different
regions.
Economically and culturally, the coastal regions are more
advanced than the central and western parts, Zhang's research team
says in the "Report on Development of China's Cultural Industry
(2006)."
But the central and western regions are by far abundant in
cultural resources, so in the long run, the eastern areas need them
for sustainable development.
East or west, the cultural industry will undoubtedly become the
strategic focus of their economic and social development, the
report observes.
It is time for eastern regions to help take the cultural
industry in the western and central parts to the global market, it
says.
For the western and central parts, where natural resources are
relatively scarce and the ecology is fragile, the cultural industry
which is environmentally friendly shows the way forward, the book
says.
If the cultural industry is developed to replace traditional
industries in the western and central regions, it will reshape the
development path for those areas, the book concludes.
Nationwide, spending on the cultural industry has been on the
rise over the past few years, which researchers believe will
upgrade the country's consumption structure.
In 2004, urbanites' spending on education, cultural and
entertainment services increased by 10.5 per cent year on year to
reach 1,033 yuan (US$128) per capita.
Last year, the expenditure of rural and urban residents on
cultural activities alone is expected to exceed 415 billion yuan
(US$51 billion), according to the book.
As the country's per capita consumption is projected to grow by
an average of 10.8 per cent annually till 2020, spending on the
cultural industry will also rise, according to the researchers.
This can be seen in the surging spending on tourism, information
and home entertainment goods and services, the book says.
The growth of the industry will play a crucial part in spurring
a shift in the economic growth mode and contributing to building a
harmonious society, the researchers say.
(China Daily January 12, 2006)
