Digital innovation empowers 'China-chic' products to go global

TIANJIN -- Visitors at a digital center in the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city Science Park in North China's Tianjin municipality are greeted in multiple languages by digital humans, showcasing the heritage and cultural narratives of Tianjin's time-honored products, and immersing visitors in a technological experience.

In the center's exhibition hall, VR glasses transport visitors to a virtual realm where they can explore intangible cultural heritage, century-old brands and creative cultural products from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and beyond.

In July 2023, the Tianjin Digital Trade Global Promotion Platform that the center developed began trial operations. More recently, the platform's 2.0 version was officially launched, enabling the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and other key areas to engage in global cultural and commercial exchange.

As an innovative hub for the digital services industry, the center has attracted over 100 digital services enterprises over the past year. "The platform allows enterprises to match domestic and international market information intelligently through AI and big data, significantly reducing market expansion costs and enhancing cooperation efficiency," said Li Huarong, an account director at the BlueFocus (Tianjin) Digital Service Industry Promotion Center.

China's first 3A game, Black Myth: Wukong, gained global popularity this year. SNK Technology leveraged the digital platform developed in Tianjin and provided marketing services for related game companies, joining other tech firms in promoting domestic cultural products to international markets.

In the virtual experience space on the center's third floor, wearable VR equipment allows visitors to immerse themselves in the worlds of games and movies. Among the exhibits, many have been produced by Tianjin Mdog Animation Studio.

"We've made animated films, such as Monkey King: Hero is Back and Nezha. We've also done lots of work in the CG production of many Chinese-style games, which were later introduced abroad. The final products are quite good because of our advanced technology and workflow," said Li Ning, co-founder of Mdog Animation Studio.

The company has also cooperated with BlueFocus to build a VR laboratory and experience center, and to introduce Chinese games and cultural products to the world, Li added.

The digital trade platform gathers momentum for enterprises to go global, digitally empowering cultural exports. As the only national-level cultural export base in Tianjin, the eco-city has attracted many renowned domestic cultural enterprises, forming five leading industries: film and television, animation, book publishing, esports, and advertising.

"We will continue to support cultural export enterprises in terms of technology, platform construction and content production, helping global audiences understand Chinese culture better," said Wang Lei, who works at the cultural export base of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city.

By the end of 2023, over 2,500 enterprises in the eco-city were focused on cultural exports, with digital culture exports valued at around $39 million. Digital technology continues to empower Chinese culture to go global, steering "China-chic" brands toward the vast international arena, according to eco-city authorities.