General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed the need to investigate efficient mechanisms for fusing culture with science and technology and to quicken the development of new forms and models of culture during his inspection visit to Hunan in March of this year. This will help to expand growth opportunities for the cultural industry, and indicate the course and path for the development of the country’s cultural sector. In a recent article published in the Guangming Daily, Professor Chen Qiang of Tongji SEM’s Department of Management Science and Engineering expressed his opinion that a reform of the cultural system should explore the establishment of new relations of production that can rapidly aggregate and efficiently change the sci-tech elements of the cultural industry while adapting to new quality productive forces in the cultural industry. The published original text is as follows.

People can witness the innovative potential of artificial intelligence enhancing audio and video in the beta version of Wondershare Skymedia, China’s first audio-visual multimedia large language model: type the text “colorful Chinese dragon” to rapidly create an HD video of a dragon with strong Chinese aesthetics; upload a photo shot with your phone to create a video that comes to life with 3D special effects; tag related descriptive words to create a unique tune that will captivate listeners. With the deep integration of “culture + technology”, new business forms, new industries, and new scenarios are radiating infinite vitality in the Malanshan Video Cultural and Creative Industrial Park beside the Liuyang River in Hunan.

In his important article titled Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Opening-up to Continuously Inject Strong Impetus into Advancing Chinese Modernization recently published in Qiushi journal, General Secretary Xi Jinping stated that in order to create new quality productive forces, the government must not only provide forward-looking planning and guidance and support scientific policy but also regulate market mechanisms and constantly innovate microeconomic entities such as enterprises. These productive forces are jointly fostered and driven by the “visible hand” of the government and the “invisible hand” of the market. Rapidly emerging sci-tech innovations are creating infinite possibilities for the future development of the cultural industry and putting forward higher requirements for cultural system reform. The cultural industry has grown significantly over the years. From micro-level content production and dissemination methods to meso-level corporate governance and to macro-level development models, policy design, and institutional arrangements, they all need to rise above dated ideas, overcome path dependence, and explore the establishment of new relations of production that adapt to new quality productive forces in the cultural industry. These are the paths that cultural system reform will take as well.

As a result, in their exploration, practitioners are required to examine the various laws and traits that correspond with the advancement of related technologies in the cultural industry, pay close attention to situational changes and industrial technology iterative upgrading, promptly modify the course and emphasis of forward-looking layout, fortify fundamental conditions and capacity building, and enhance the availability of basic technologies. They are also required to determine the pattern of innovative allocation of sci-tech factors in the cultural industry; optimize the distribution of resources such as talents, technologies, facilities, audio-visual data, and computing power; identify the connotation and characteristics of new factors; and secure a leading position in development and utilization. The cultural industry should take advantage of significant opportunities presented by the current round of scientific and technological revolution and deepen its “four-chain integration”: deploying the innovation chain around the industrial chain, deploying the industrial chain around the innovation chain, achieving the resonance of the talent chain, capital chain, innovation chain, and industrial chain through policy guidance and special support; the cultural industry should also encourage its in-depth transformation and integrated development with other industries and launch crossover demonstration projects that are tailored to the local environment. In order to quickly and effectively aggregate and transform sci-tech factors, the cultural industry should promote the better integration of a well-functioning government and an efficient market, understand the logic of technology, market and governance for fostering new quality productive forces in it, and create an open ecosystem for industrial innovation. This can be achieved by building the digital infrastructure, cultivating professional and technical talents, establishing public technology platforms, coordinating computing power, protecting intellectual property, and fostering international exchanges and cooperation.

The cultural industry has both economic and social benefits and is a bridge that allows various civilizations to appreciate each other’s strengths. It is imperative to maximize the multiplier effect of science and technology on the development of the cultural industry, fulfill people’s aspirations for a better living, activate cultural consumption potential, and enhance the country’s soft power by further deepening reforms to the cultural system.