China can pin part of its hopes for the economic progress of its underdeveloped west on the development of its cultural industry, as some culture officials and industry leaders have proposed.

Liu Kuanren, a provincial cultural official of Shaanxi in northwest China, said that much of the cultural resources in the west remains untapped while the country is striving to stimulate an economic leap in the region.

The cultural industry, if effectively boosted, can serve as a great impetus for economic development in the west, Liu said.

In Shaanxi, the output value of the cultural sector in 2003 surpassed 1.5 billion yuan (over US$180 million), double the previous year.

Liu made the remarks at a trade fair between China's west and east regions held last week.

China launched its ambitious West Development project at the end of last century, aiming to narrow the economic gap between its east and west. The project covers over 10 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

As part of the effort to promote the cultural industrialization process in the west, an expo about the cultural industry was held for the first time at the east-west trade fair. The expo covered sectors from folk cultural products and cultural relics to cultural investment and media industry.

The expo saw 22 cooperation agreements clinched during the week, involving a total of some 2 billion yuan (over US$240 million).

The West Movie Group based in Xi'an, provincial capital of Shaanxi, attracted a US$1.5 million purchasing contract from International Audio and Video Communications Inc. Ltd (IAVC) of the United States, making it the largest cooperation partner on the Chinese mainland to the major Chinese movie and TV drama provider in North America.

According to the contract, the movie group will provide a minimum of 1,000 hours of TV dramas annually.

As the cradle of Chinese civilization, west China boasts unique and rich cultural resources, which are appealing to the world, especially to overseas Chinese.

Famous director Zhang Yimou's masterpiece Hong Gaoliang or Red Sorghum, which features the local color of the Loess Plateau in northwest China, was a product of the Xi'an Film Studio.

The film not only led to the international recognition of Zhang but also for a time aroused the world's curiosity about Chinese culture.

Richard Lin, general manager of IAVC, said that Chinese descendants living in America value Chinese culture, and cultural products featuring the tradition and culture in the country's west, with movies and TV dramas as a typical example, have a great potential market.

As Liu Kuanren noted, many of the region's traditional folk artworks, including clay sculpture, paper-cut and shadow play, are promising cultural products.

Liu said that the cultural products exhibition on the expo was not designed merely as a showcase of the region's cultural tradition and development, also, "the products are displayed there to attract exploitation of their economic value."

Yan Yiyun, director of the management committee of the West Movie Group, said he believes that the cultural industry can enjoy great development in China's western region in spite of its economic under-development.

"But the cultural industry is currently contained by the absence of an effective market mechanism in the region," Yan said. "Only when a functional market mechanism is established, can cultural enterprises get stimulation for development."

The development of the cultural industry in the country's west, Yan said, relies on the joint involvement of governments and enterprises.

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2004)