Sino-UK digital media alliance

China and the United Kingdom are enhancing cooperation in the creative industry through the Global Digital Media and Entertainment Alliance established in Qingdao in late May.

The alliance aims to promote partnerships in digital media and facilitate entry into the China market by companies from the UK, local media report.

An agreement on the alliance was reached when UK Prime Minister David Cameron met Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang during his visit to Beijing in December last year.

Vince Cable, British business secretary, told the 21st Century Business Herald that companies in the two countries will benefit from trade and investment opportunities worth of 2 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) in the creative industry.

Including films, TV and music, the creative industry contributes 71.4 billion pounds to the UK's economy every year while monthly exports to China in the sector are valued at more than 1 billion pounds.

Xiang Xiaowei, cultural counselor at the Chinese Embassy in the UK, told Xinhua news agency that Britain anticipates a high level of interest from Chinese investors and entrepreneurs in its cultural market.

The two countries have made substantial progress in recent years, Xiang said, adding that the UK hopes to attract Chinese capital to sports, films and dramas.

More young Chinese professionals working at museums, libraries or theaters are learning advanced management expertise in the UK and want to bring those management models back to their homeland.

And a growing number of Chinese students choose the UK as a prime destination to study art, design and art management, Xiang said.

Data from the embassy shows that there were at least 1,000 cultural exchange programs between the two countries from 2012 to early 2014 involving more than 8,000 people.

Sino-UK cultural exchanges have now passed from the initial stage of communication and recognition to industrial cooperation, Xiang said.

Mike Dethick, executive director of the China-Britain Business Council, said during the recent China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services that "in terms of creativity and innovation, the UK is always recognized as having strong talent".

"And we want to have that talent come to China.

"In China, you have many, many talented, creative people. If we can tap into that resource and make it a two-way dialog, I think that will be good for China's development," Dethick said.

The UK has one of the largest creative industries in Europe, especially in digital entertainment in games, software and films.

Twenty-six of the world's most successful studios making digital games are located in the UK. For Chinese players, access to the UK means drawing top-level R&D staff and at the same time tapping into business opportunities in the country and even the entire continent, said industry insiders.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn