From game rooms, cinemas, reality TV to virtual catwalks, China's cultural industry is asserting its global position with speed, data and identity.
Every second, Chinese people spend nearly 400 million VND on cultural products, from buying movie tickets, downloading apps to read comics online, playing virtual reality games, to visiting museums that apply AI technology.
These seemingly individual choices are resonating into a huge economic push, helping the country's cultural industry earn more than 7,100 billion yuan in just the first 6 months of 2025.
The “smokeless” industry is booming, China is gradually shaping its role as “ the world's most influential storyteller”.
On the global map of cultural industry, China is gradually shaping its position as a "new cultural superpower", not only a material production factory but also a center for content creation, spreading soft cultural influence.
The latest figures released on July 30, 2025 by the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS) once again confirm this: the total operating revenue of major cultural companies in the first half of 2026 reached more than 7,100 billion yuan (equivalent to about 996.9 billion USD), an increase of 7.4% over the same period last year.
From cultural services to digital economy
The highlight of this growth picture is the spectacular breakthrough of the cultural services industry, with a growth rate of 10.7%, accounting for 55% of the total industry revenue, an increase of 1.6 percentage points compared to 2024.
According to NBS statistician Pan Xuhua, cultural service companies contributed 77% to the total revenue growth, demonstrating the leading role of this segment in the modern cultural industrial structure.
In particular, new business models such as digital publishing, online content distribution, gaming and digital advertising continue to make a big splash.
Revenue from these sectors reached nearly 3.2 trillion yuan, up 13.6%, far exceeding the overall growth rate of the entire industry.
In addition to being the "playground" of large technology corporations such as Tencent, Bilibili or ByteDance, China has also witnessed the strong rise of small and medium-sized enterprises in the cultural content production chain.
Including TV production, artificial intelligence application in content localization services.
From national strategy to local resilience
China's success is of course not a random phenomenon, but the result of a long-term vision and overall strategy.
Since 2014, when the cultural industry was identified as a “strategic pillar industry” in the economic reform plan, China has gradually invested heavily in infrastructure, perfected the creative ecosystem, and introduced tax and credit support policies for cultural enterprises.
Notably, localities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu are building specialized cultural industrial clusters, integrating digital technology, entertainment, design and content creation.
According to data from the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism, by the end of 2024, more than 300 provincial and national cultural creative parks would have been put into operation, creating jobs for tens of millions of high-quality workers.
Soft culture: “strategic attraction” in the era of global competition
The acceleration of China's cultural industry lies in its growth rate and, more importantly, in its ability to shape aesthetics and cultural consumption trends on a global scale.
We can mention the wave of historical TV series such as Truong Tuong Tu, Son Ha Lenh , or reality TV shows, animated products, online games..., all of which are gradually shaping a "Chinese cultural code" that has the ability to spread and sympathize with young people around the world.
The Chinese government has also launched the “Communication to the World” strategy, encouraging cultural enterprises to expand into international markets.
Many Chinese streaming platforms have reached global distribution deals, reaching more than 150 countries. In 2024, the export revenue of Chinese cultural products will reach more than 120 billion USD, an unprecedented milestone in history.
Challenges Ahead
However, behind the halo are not small challenges. China is facing fierce competition in the global creative industry, as well as cultural and political barriers to accessing some Western markets.
Balancing the preservation of traditional cultural identity and meeting the global consumption needs of the younger generation is also a difficult problem to solve.
In addition, tight control over content also makes many creators feel limited in their ability to express themselves, which can affect the vitality and diversity of the cultural ecosystem in the long term.
Looking from China, it can be seen that if we want the cultural industry to develop strongly, we need a systematic national strategy, long-term investment in creative infrastructure and, most importantly, creating an environment that encourages creative freedom within the legal framework.
The development of the cultural industry is therefore no longer a matter of the cultural sector alone but an overall strategy for national development.
Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/trung-quoc-nganh-cong-nghiep-van-hoa-thu-gan-1000-ti-usd-trong-6-thang-158071.html
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