I Want to Write Music: Aspiring composer: Now is best time for China's cultural sector

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China has become a land of opportunity for aspiring professionals in the art world, thanks to rapid cultural growth and better protection for intellectual property rights. Yang Chengxi interviews a young woman who's starting out as a composer in Shanghai.

XU LINGQING MUSIC COMPOSER "I started to write my own piano pieces when I was around 12. I wrote my first orchestra piece for my school orchestra, and it was performed when I was 14. It was in ninth grade."

Xu Lingqing has always been musical. She spent most of her student life in the USA, and now she's a full time composer in Shanghai.

YANG CHENGXI SHANGHAI "This home studio is the start of Lingqing's music career in China, and she has great aspirations for the future in the rising sector."

XU LINGQING MUSIC COMPOSER "I see a lot of improvement in a lot of content produced in China. From ten years ago until now there's a lot of improvement. Really really exciting to seeing more Chinese pieces of work not only going abroad but going to audiences for audiences to enjoy."

Xu did not receive a formal music education. Despite her enthusiasm for music, her parents, both scientists, wanted her to choose the same career path as they.

XU LINGQING MUSIC COMPOSER "Yeah I was actually very frustrated. I was a very nice daughter."

After graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she worked as a medical engineer in America and later on as a management consultant in Shanghai. Neither job proved to be fulfilling.

XU LINGQING MUSIC COMPOSER "I want to write music. I think I've always been good at it."

After more than eight years of working in the corporate world, she made a giant leap in her career path in 2017.

XU LINGQING MUSIC COMPOSER "I really think this is a really good industry to get into at this time because of the past few years. I think also in the future decades the cultural industry in China will grow a lot. Also it's growing at a much faster pace than in Europe and in the US."

The latest government work report from the National People's Congress says that China's cultural sector grew an annual 13 percent in the past five years.

XU LINGQING MUSIC COMPOSER "In China and the US, it's becoming more and more similar for where composers are needed. Because of copyright laws in the US, most people need to get original compositions. In China nowadays people also frequently hire composers for all these purposes. People are more aware of the copyright laws in China so a lot of businesses use original work."

Lingqing hopes she will eventually score for feature films one day.

XU LINGQING MUSIC COMPOSER "A lot of dreams for the future. Hopefully, I can find a path to get there."

YCX CGTN SH.