The cultural industry has grown quickly in Shenzhen to become the fourth pillar of the city after high-tech, logistics and finance industries.
Cultural Development
During the past five years, the added value of the cultural industry has been increasing by 20 percent year on year. The figure reached 53.15 billion yuan in Shenzhen in 2009, comprising 7 percent of the city's GDP. Tencent, Huaqiang Culture and Technology, A8 Music, Newplan, Jinjia, ACTO, Visionchina Media Inc. and other local firms have allowed people to see the huge potential of the cultural industry.
City of Design
Shenzhen was accepted as a member of the Creative Cities Network by UNESCO on Nov. 19, 2008, and named a UNESCO City of Design, becoming the first Chinese city to win the honor. It's the sixth city in the world to earn this title.
Cultural Fair
Cosponsored by the Shenzhen Municipal Government and State institutions like the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Commerce, the China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair is an event certified by the UFI. The only State-level cultural expo of China, it is held annually in Shenzhen in May.
Dafen Oil Painting Village
Located in Buji Subdistrict, Longgang District, the 4-square-kilometer village is the world's largest mass producer of oil paintings — a virtual art factory. Originally conceived by Hong Kong businessman, Huang Jiang, who began production with a dozen artists in 1989, the village has grown in leaps and bounds over the past 20 years. About 15,000 artists and craftsmen work in more than 40 factories, 800 studios and workshops.
Cartoon and Animation Base
One of China's cartoon and animation industry bases, Shenzhen was the first city to mass-produce cartoons for foreign companies. The city has been home to 70 percent of China's cartoon and animation artists since the first Hong Kong-invested animation company was established in the city in the mid-1980s. Today, the city is an important base for cartoon and animation production in the world, turning out cartoons, 3-D animation and software for computer games.
