China Art and Entertainment Group (CAEG) has turned into a cultural producer rather than an agent after a three-year reform, according to general manager Zhang Yu.
The reform, initiated by the Chinese government, has been carried out in 35 cultural companies, artistic troupes, publishing houses and TV and broadcasting producers in nine provinces and regions. the CAEG, as the largest and oldest of the 35, is considered of great importance in the reform program.
"The reform in our company has proved successful," Zhang said, listing a dozen brand products organized and promoted by the company, such as the 4th and 5th "Meet in Beijing" Cultural Festival, the 6th and 7th Asian Arts Festival, the 7th International Chorus Competition, the 3rd China International Piano Competition, as well as the important programs of the China-France Culture Year, and the China Culture Festival in the United States.
In terms of overseas markets, Zhang said, the CAEG has dispatched 256 shows and exhibitions and 216 artistic troupes overseas. In 161 cities of 51 countries and regions, the CAEG has organized 13,267 performances attracting 197.75 million people.
"Overseas performances and audiences respectively accounted for 88.1 percent and 94.1 percent of the CAEG's total," Zhang added. "Thanks to the transformation from a state-owned agency to a company, we have enjoyed great success against fierce international competition."
The CAEG completed its transformation in April of 2004 by combining China Performing Arts Agency and China International Exhibition Agency, both of which were state-owned institutions under the Chinese Ministry of Culture. Founded shortly after the founding of New China, the two institutes had a long history and rich experience in international cultural exchanges, and established good relationship with foreign counterparts.
Zhang said the CAEG from the first day of its birth, never sat back on the past glory of its predecessor. Instead, it took more efforts to seek cooperation at home and overseas, and produced original performances that netted big profits.
By joining hands with a Shanghai-based cultural company and the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe, the CAEG invested 30 million yuan (around US$3.6 million) in a performance named "Era-Tour." Based on a Chinese story, the show displayed the dazzling acrobatic skills against the multimedia-style stage setting, thus creating unprecedented visual effects and winning widespread acclaim.
From Sept. 27 last year to Feb. 6 this year, the net box office revenue of the show reached 17.8 million yuan (around US$2.1 million), breaking the record of the locally made performance.
"The Era-Tour, together with several other locally made products, has also changed the previous trend that foreign performances always topped the box office," Zhang Yu said.
Following this product, the three parties for the "Era-Tour" jointly launched a cultural company. The new firm recruited foreign producers for the first time, aiming to purchase and operate the large and international program.
"The core business of the new firm is to purchase the best ideas for cultural production globally, and then improve the quality of our own products at a relatively lower cost," Zhang explained, stressing that the products will always focus on Chinese stories with Chinese elements gaining increasing popularity worldwide.
Zhang noted that the CAEG, while lowering production costs, has also expanded its marketing business. By introducing advanced science and technology, it set up the largest ticket selling network in China based on its original ticket department. In 2005, large investment was put into setting up branches of the ticket offices in big cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Hangzhou.
Zhang revealed that the CAEG would invite foreign investment in ticket sales for a chain-store-like ticket network covering the whole nation.
Tasting the sweet fruit of the transformation, the CAEG also took steps to set up share-holding companies with well-known local performing arts agencies, publishing houses, artistic troupes. The business scale of the CAEG has covered a wide range of subjects including publishing, embroidery, auction, as well as some folk arts and culture.
"Such cooperation promoted the brand and competitiveness of the CAEG, and is conducive to running comprehensive programs in the long run," Zhang said.
In recent years, the cultural industry in China has seen a boom with the rapid growth of the national economy and surging demand from the Chinese people. Latest statistics from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences showed that in the last two years, cultural consumption by Chinese people amounted to 700 billion yuan (around US$84 billion).
(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2006)
