Media execs attend ICIF

An overseas Chinese-language media executive tries an interactive game at the booth of Shenzhen News Group at the Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Center in Bao’an District on Friday. Li Xi

A delegation of editors-in-chief and heads of overseas Chinese-language media outlets visited the Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Center in Bao’an District on Friday to immerse themselves in Chinese culture and explore business prospects.

The China International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF) was established in 2004. After more than two decades of progress, it has evolved into a calling card of the city, exhibiting the advancements of Chinese cultural reform and development while fostering exchanges between Chinese and foreign cultures.

Within the News and Publishing Exhibition Area in Hall 14, Lan An, executive vice president and executive editor-in-chief of Hong Kong Commercial Daily, presented the Shenzhen News Group’s pavilion to the visitors. Shenzhen News Group has entered the era of artificial intelligence, with AI now driving the entire news production process, facilitating cross-border integration, and uniting various sectors to construct an “AI+ ecosystem.”

Spanning an exhibition area of 180,000 square meters, this year’s ICIF, with 9 major exhibition halls, showcased a diverse array of products and technologies in cultural tourism, films and animation, intangible culture, fine arts, and artistic designs to attendees from across the globe.

As per Wang Jun, deputy editor-in-chief of Hong Kong Commercial Daily and the organizer of the tour for the overseas Chinese-language media delegation, the objective of the tour was to immerse media executives in Chinese traditional culture, foster exchanges among media entities, and advance the global promotion of Chinese culture while introducing exceptional cultures from abroad.

Hall 13 hosted the GBA Cultural Industry Innovation Exhibition, spotlighting the progress and partnerships in cultural industries among GBA cities. The hall featured groundbreaking products in digital culture, creative design, and cultural tourism, showcasing distinctive cultural and creative offerings from Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao.

Zhu Xin’e, deputy editor-in-chief of China Weekly in Egypt and a first-time attendee of the fair, noted that she discovered many cooperative opportunities. “The fair showed a lot of tourism resources such as the exquisite cultural and creative products like porcelain from Jingdezhen in Jiangxi. Egypt is a major tourist destination. We hope more people overseas to know about the fair through our reports in Chinese and Arabic languages and more Chinese cultural products could reach overseas markets,” said Zhu.