UN report finds creative China is booming, supporting Asian trade

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The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released a report on Wednesday saying China's trade in creative goods and services is outstripping those of other countries and regions.

The report tracks the performance of countries in the trade of creative goods and services in the time period of 2002 to 2015. UNCTAD said China's trade in creative goods grew exponentially, at an annual rate of 14 percent.

In 2002, China's trade in creative goods amounted to 32 billion U.S. dollars. The volume has increased more than five folds since, hitting 191.4 billion U.S. dollars by 2014.

There was a drop in 2015 when China recorded a 168.5-billion-U.S.-dollar trade in creative goods, but comparatively the country has maintained the lion's share of the trade in creative goods.

"Zhao Bandi: China Party" exhibition at UCCA, August 4, 2017. /VCG Photo

"China's contribution to the global creative economy is both important and has driven more than a decade's worth of growth in creative industries and services," said UNCTAD creative economy head, Marisa Henderson.

Currently, China is the world's biggest art market, and its film market is set to expand.

The country's creative economy growth is fueled by Internet accessibility, a big consumer marketplace, and a growing digital economy, both closely integrated with the creative economy.

Data also shows that Asia outpaced all other regions, with China and Southeast Asia, combined accounting for 228 billion U.S. dollars of creative exports, almost double that of Europe.

Besides China, India, Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia, Mexico, and the Philippines were also among the top performing developing economies stimulating global trade in creative goods.

"Generally, South-South trade is on the rise and looks set to be an area of vibrant future growth especially for the creative economy, where the Asian nations are currently very strong performers," said Henderson.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency