" Charm of Jiangsu" Makes Its Debut at the Hong Kong International Licensing Show 2023

On the afternoon of April 19, 2023, the "China Cultural and Tourism IP Licensing Series Events" were launched - the "Mainland China Pavilion" at Hong Kong International Licensing Show 2023 was opened, and the Asian Licensing Conference 2023 "China Opportunity" special session was also held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.

In the presence of over a hundred guests from Mainland China and Hong Kong, the opening ceremony of the "Mainland China Pavilion" was officiated by a number of distinguished guests including Kong Lun, Deputy Director of the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China, Liu Qiang, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Cultural Media Group, and President of China Culture Daily, Patrick Lau, Deputy Executive Director of Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Zhang Dong, Director of the Asian Tourism Exchange Center, Jacky Chung, Director of Chinese Mainland at Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Wang Yuegong, Vice President of the Palace Museum, He Xiaozu, Party Secretary and Director of the Gansu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Sun Shize, Second-level Inspector of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Ma Jianli, Deputy Director of Qinghai Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, and Li Gui, Deputy Director of the Shanxi Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.

In his speech, Kong Lun expressed that in recent years, the global licensing industry has shown thriving development, and as the world's second-largest consumer market, China's licensing industry is also developing rapidly. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism attaches great importance to the integrated development of culture and related industries, including actively developing the brand licensing industry, strengthening the development and transformation of IP with Chinese cultural characteristics, promoting brand licensing to empower the real economy, stimulating domestic demand and consumption, and improving the cultural connotation, creativity level, and added value of relevant industries. He believes that China's licensing industry will usher in greater development opportunities. In his speech, Patrick Lau mentioned that Hong Kong's licensing industry should seize the opportunity and leverage its advantages, including its international business environment, rich talent resources, and industry experience, to play its role as a center for cultural and art exchanges between China and foreign countries. He encouraged Hong Kong's licensing industry to provide professional advice and assistance to companies from Mainland China, promote the healthy development of Mainland China's intellectual property market, and assist overseas companies, particularly those in Southeast Asia, in seizing the opportunities of China's cultural and tourism licensing market, and helping the Asian licensing industry to take off.

Kong Lun, Deputy Director of the Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Affairs Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, delivered a speech.

The opening ceremony of the "Mainland China Pavilion" was attended by the guests of honor

Expansion - Showcasing and Trading to Connect the Licensing Industry Chain

In order to showcase the "Charm of Jiangsu" cultural tourism brand and promote cultural and creative products such as Jiangsu's intangible cultural heritage, cultural and creative industries, and expand the international cooperation space for cultural IP product licensing, cultivate the province's foreign cultural trade industry chain, enhance the international influence of Jiangsu's cultural tourism industry, and help Jiangsu build a pioneer zone of socialist cultural power and a world-renowned tourist destination, the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism carefully selected exhibits based on the criteria of having a certain international brand influence and international licensing potential for IP products through market research before the Hong Kong International Licensing Show. They then communicated extensively with the show's organizer, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and organized nine organizations including Nanjing Museum, China Grand Canal Museum, Nanjing Jinling Goldfoil Group, Jiangsu Gaochun Ceramics Company, Suzhou Museum, Suzhou Boxin Art Company, Suzhou Miwei Culture and Art Co., Ltd., Nantong Benlan Arts and Crafts Co., Ltd., and Yangzhou Canal Culture Investment Group, to bring nearly 300 products from 50 series and designed "Charm of Jiangsu" licensed product brochures to participate in the exhibition in Hong Kong.

The "Charm of Jiangsu" pavilion, with the core theme of " Empowered by Culture, Renewed by Creativity", not only delved into the front-end IP trading, but also connected the licensing industry chain, promoting excellent Jiangsu cultural IP and products to enter the international market more effectively. On the opening day of the exhibition, Kong Lun, Deputy Director of the Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan Affairs Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Executive Director Margaret Fong and Deputy Executive Director Sophia Chong of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Bernard Chan Pak-li, Under Secretary of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, and Vicki She, Representative of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council in Jiangsu, visited the "Charm of Jiangsu" pavilion, and highly praised the refreshing and unique exhibition design, distinctive exhibition displays, and the variety of exhibits showcased.

During the exhibition, approximately 10,000 people visited the "Charm of Jiangsu" pavilion, including over 230 exhibitors and professional buyers from countries and regions such as Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. These buyers came to the "Charm of Jiangsu" pavilion to discuss with exhibitors from Jiangsu Province for IP licensing. As a result, 85 cooperation intentions were reached, with three contracts signed and a contract value of nearly one million yuan. The cooperation intentions and contract value ranked the Jiangsu Pavilion top in the Mainland China Pavilion.

Kong Lun, Deputy Director of the Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Affairs Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, visited the Jiangsu Pavilion

Margaret Fong, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, visited the Jiangsu Pavilion

Bernard Chan Pak-li, Under Secretary of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, visited the Jiangsu Pavilion

Vicki She, Representative of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council in Jiangsu, visited Jiangsu Pavilion

The exquisite exhibits at the Jiangsu Pavilion attracted numerous domestic and foreign visitors and buyers to stay and admire

Promotion - Face-to-face Talk Between Exhibitors and Buyers

During the exhibition, the organizer Hong Kong Trade Development Council selected 20 exhibitors out of 135 in the "Mainland China Pavilion" to have face-to-face talk with buyers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and other countries. Exhibitors had 5 minutes to present their products and services and answer questions from buyers. Five exhibitors from Jiangsu Pavilion, including Nanjing Museum, Suzhou Museum, Nantong Benlan Arts and Crafts Co., Ltd., Nanjing Jinling Goldfoil Group, and Suzhou Miwei Culture and Art Co., Ltd., were selected to participate in this event.

Jiangsu exhibitors talked face-to-face with buyers during the exhibition

Focus – Industry Representatives Share Opportunities and Prospects

Building on the success of the inaugural "China Opportunity" themed session at the Asian Licensing Conference 2022, this year's session focused on "Leveraging Hong Kong's Advantages to Promote the Quintessence of Chinese Culture." Through industry interpretation at the macro level, case and experience sharing, the session highlighted the opportunities and prospects of China's cultural industry. Professor Jia Xudong, a member of the expert committee for the "14th Five-Year Plan" of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and a professor at the School of Cultural Industries Management of the Communication University of China, gave a keynote speech on "the new development and new opportunities of China's cultural industry in the new era." The session also included two discussion sessions: "Cultural Expansion - Leveraging Hong Kong's Platform to Promote the Quintessence of Chinese Culture" and "Empowered by Creativity - Leveraging Hong Kong's Advantages to Activate the Cultural Innovation Engine." Guests from the mainland included Wang Yuegong, Vice President of the Palace Museum, Sun Xiaoqiang, Chairman of the Dunhuang Tourism Group, Wang Jinxian, Director of the Qinghai Provincial Museum, Zhu Xiaoyun, Deputy Director and Researcher of the Business Development Department of the National Museum of China, Lian Kai, Deputy Director of the Cultural and Creative Department of the Nanjing Museum, and Liu Haiyan, Operations Director of the Chengdu Liu's Bamboo Weaving Craft Company. Guests from Hong Kong included Mr. Axel Cheung, Senior Vice President, China President Office of the Fung Group, and Vincent Chan, CEO and Founder of BRDGS. Together, they explored how to better extract and showcase the spiritual symbols and cultural essence of Chinese civilization and promote Chinese culture more deeply into the vast international market, leveraging Hong Kong's new position as a center for cultural and artistic exchange between China and foreign countries.

Guests from Mainland China and Hong Kong shared their understanding of "China Opportunity"

In 2023, the "China Cultural and Tourism IP Licensing Series Events" were guided by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, jointly organized by China Cultural Media Group and Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and undertaken by Zhongchuan Chuangzhan (Beijing) Cultural Development Co., Ltd. The series of events included online lectures on IP Licensing, the "China Opportunity" special topic at the Asian Licensing Conference, the "Mainland China Pavilion" at the Hong Kong International Licensing Show, and the "China Cultural and Intangible Heritage Theme Pavilion" at the Hong Kong Gifts and Premium Fair. The exhibitors in the "Mainland China Pavilion" at the Hong Kong International Licensing Show 2023 came from the Palace Museum, National Museum of China, as well as cultural and tourism departments directly under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and regions such as Jiangsu, Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai, Henan, Anhui, and Guangdong. A total of 135 exhibitors brought hundreds of IP projects, including museum licensing, intangible cultural heritage (art) licensing, animation licensing, and others, with a total exhibition area of more than 400 square meters. The exhibition was held from April 19 to 22.

(International Exchange and Cooperation Office)