CHINA DAILY Thursday, August 22, 2019IP| 17
The page is sponsored by the National Intellectual Property Administration.Digital culture to blast
off with fast networks
5G technology
set to fuel creative
industry into premier
economic leagueAn employee helps a visitor use augmented technology to
experience a historical cultural area in Fuzhou, Fujian province.
ZHU XINGXIN / CHINA DAILYBy YUAN SHENGGAODriven by new-generation tech-
nologies, China’s digital culture
industry is expected to embrace a
major expansion as a would-be pil-
lar sector in the country, according
to an industrial report.
The Digital Culture Industry
Trends Report was released by the
Development Research Center of
the State Council, the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences and
Tencent Research in early August.
“The digital culture industry has
seen the dawn of its explosive
growth,” Yang Xiaodong, head of a
research institute focusing on ori-
ental culture and urban develop-
ment at the Development Research
Center, told Economic Daily.
The report estimated the domes-
tic industry generated 2.85 trillion
to 3.26 trillion yuan ($403.91 bil-
lion to 462.02 billion) in industrial
output value in 2017. It forecast the
amount to increase to 8 trillion
yuan in 2020.
With the promotion of 5G tech-
nology, the digital culture industry
will be riding high, Yang said.
The change enables emerging
technologies to further integrate
with the creative industry. This will
lay a foundation to create infra-
structure for the digital creative
industry, said Zhang Xiaoming, a
senior researcher at a Chinese cul-
ture research center at the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences.
The 5G-based internet will ena-
ble commercial use of virtual reali-
ty, augmented reality and mixed
reality technologies. This will bene-
fit sectors such as video games,
films and TV, exhibitions and con-
ferences, tourism, media and publi-
cations, the report found.Driverless vehicles will be anoth-
er field that is expected to expand
due to fast and reliable connectivity
through 5G technology. Based on
online platforms serving such vehi-
cles, future cultural companies may
turn to the segment to offer tailor-
made content, the report said.
In addition, the internet of
things, industrial internet and
smart cities will be included as
high-growth sectors to benefit from
new-generation technologies.
Their expansion will spur growth
in the digital culture industry.
Cultural companies have created
new business models, patterns and
practices to boost the development
of digital cultural consumption.
They have become highlights of the
cultural industry, said Li Lei, an
official from the Ministry of Culture
and Tourism.
The overseas market is a key
market for domestic digital culture
products, said Huang Bin, a mem-
ber of a think tank from Peking
University.
The report shows that Chinese-
developed video games earned
$9.59 billion in sales from overseas
in 2018, increasing 15.8 percentfrom 2017. In comparison, growth
in the domestic market was 5.3 per-
cent.
Zhang encourages Chinese com-
panies to engage in formulating
international standards. He called
on them to expand cooperation in
tackling fundamental, key and
common technological difficulties.
China is now a major importer of
copyrights, Zhang said. “Original
creativity is the key to international
competitiveness in the sphere of
the global digital culture industry.”
Gao Hongcun, an expert from
the Chinese Academy of Govern-
ance, said that digital culture has
been designated as an emerging
strategic sector in China. Related
businesses can receive policy sup-
port.
Yang from the Development
Research Center said policy sup-
port needs to tilt toward small busi-
nesses, individual creators and
professional creative organiza-
tions.
“When it comes to the support for
creators, copyright protection — in
particular, the protection of their
rights to commercialize their crea-
tive ideas — comes first.”Because of the new
system, books that
are text-dominated
and do not require
complicated formats
can be processed by a
smart means.”Nie Zhenning, vice-president of
the Publishers Association of
ChinaTIANJIN — With the help of shop
assistants, a white-haired man put
his feet inside a foot measuring
device, which was about 1 meter
high, with a flashing blue light.
The device is equipped with six
scanners, which can scan the sides
and sole of each foot. Within a few
seconds, the screen of the device dis-
played a 3D model with the exact
length, width, height and shape of
the customer’s feet.
“We can make tailored shoes for
customers based on the 3D models,”
said Li Ying, director of the new
retail department of Lao Mei Hua
company, a time-honored shoemak-
ing brand in northern China’s Tian-
jin municipality.
The company, founded in 1911,
has attracted more customers as it
has introduced more high-tech devi-
ces in its “smart” store, bringing a
new experience to shoe lovers.
In the smart store, customers can
place orders on the “magic mirrors”
by tapping the screen. The mirrors
are intelligent shelves with detailed
information of products displayed
on-screen.
“My mother is accustomed to
wearing their shoes, so I often come
here to buy them,” said a customer
surnamed Li. She bought a pair of
black flats for her 75-year-old moth-
er and was browsing through other
shoe samples via the intelligent
shelves.
When the camera fixed behind
the mirrors senses people getting
close, the intelligent shelf will nar-
row its interface to a small icon and
become a mirror for the customers
to try on shoes.
The entire smart store is covered
with cameras equipped with an arti-
ficial intelligence system, which can
recognize the gender, age, visit fre-
quency and walking routes of cus-
tomers.
By analyzing the routes, the sys-
tem is able to figure out the most
popular products in the store aiding
the company’s future marketing
decisions.
While the technology dazzles the
customers, the company also brings
them closer to traditional shoemak-
ing techniques by using the sounds
of hammers, scissors and needles in
the store.
Zhang Jianming, a 36-year-old
shoemaker, wears a brown apron
and sits behind a wooden work-
bench with vamps, soles and various
tools on the table. He carefully pokes
a small hole in a sole to allow the
thick thread to pass through and
finishes it with dense stitches.
The traditional shoemaking skill
of Lao Mei Hua was listed as nation-
al intangible cultural heritage in
2011.
“Making shoes is a hard job. We
need to endure longtime loneliness,”
said 62-year-old Sun Yukun, Zhang’s
teacher, who has been working in
the industry for nearly five decades.
Sun added that no matter how
advanced technologies have
become, traditional shoemaking
skills are still irreplaceable and need
to be passed on from generation to
generation.
“We won’t lose our century-old
shoemaking skills, but we need to
keep up with the times as well,” said
Dong Jianshe, general manager of
the company.
Since 2017, the company has orga-
nized activities for customers of all
ages to learn about traditional
handicrafts, such as making circular
fans and Chinese knots for free each
weekend. In the first half of 2019,
the company sold about 270,
pairs of shoes.
Zhang Baoyi, head of the Institute
of Sociology under the Tianjin Acad-
emy of Social Sciences, said that
inheritance is crucial for every time-
honored brand. But they can also
adopt the latest technology to oper-
ate better.
“It will maximize the value of such
companies when they combine tra-
ditional techniques with the latest
technologies.”XINHUATraditional shoemakers
adopt high technology
without losing their soul
5
sub-modules
of smart reviewing, change
track, comparison, one-click
layout and format conversion
are featured in the smart
system designed for books’
editing, proofreading and
typesettingThe Intellectual Property Pub-
lishing House, against the back-
drop of knowledge communication
and development, stands out from
its peers and serves as an example
to companies eager to use technolo-
gies like artificial intelligence, Luo
said.
Zhu said: “On this year’s World
Intellectual Property Day — April
26, we launched a patented transla-
tion engine, which marked the
start of our exploration of artificial
intelligence.
“As a successive invention, this
editing system has met its targets
in research and development and
will soon start its commercial oper-
ations.”
The publishing house signed
contracts with many famed pub-
lishing companies on the day of the
launch.
“We believe the system will
improve quality of publications,
shorten working hours, streamline
the publishing process and make
greater contributions to develop-
ing China into a country with
strong IP protection,” Zhu said.By YIN RUOWEI
[email protected]Editing, proofreading, typeset-
ting, process management and the
copyright protection of books have
been made easier with a smart sys-
tem launched by the Intellectual
Property Publishing House last
week.
The new offering dubbed
Zhongzhibianjiao, which means
the IPPH’s editing and proofread-
ing system, is the first of its kind in
China. It is aimed at making the
process of book publication paper-
less, electronic and smart, helping
the industry to transform and
upgrade digitally.
“Though we have promoted digi-
tal publication for more than 10
years, we still print out manu-
scripts and then edit and proofread
them,” said Zhu Mingang, chair-
man of the board of directors at the
publishing house.
“This has caused high labor
intensity, low efficiency, a long and
complicated process, divided docu-
ment formats, and bottlenecks in
the managing process. It leaves
much to be desired,” Zhu said.
Nie Zhenning, vice-president of
the Publishers Association of Chi-
na, said: “But now, because of the
new system, books that are text-
dominated and do not require com-
plicated formats can be processed
by a smart means.”
It is an important step in inte-
grating media and disruptive tech-
nologies. The system’s content
control can be extended beyond
books’ publication, he added.
The system is modular and fea-
tures two subsystems — process
management and complex unit
editing and recognition — and five
sub-modules: smart reviewing,
change track, comparison, one-
click layout and format conversion.
The publishing house said it has
developed customizable solutions
so users can select specific func-
tions to make their own books.
Luo Xueke, principal of the Bei-
jing Institute of Graphic Communi-
cation and an expert in the field,
said people can change everything
themselves.System aims to get
books on shelves quicker
IP Scene
BEIJING
Rankings rolling out
in steel industry
Steel groups — Baowu, Shou-
gang, Ansteel and its subsidiary
Pangang — were ranked among
the most innovative steelmakers
in terms of patents in China,
according to a report released in
Beijing earlier this month. The
report rolled out by the China
Metallurgical Information and
Standardization Institute and
Intellectual Property Publishing
House reviewed patent data
from more than 150 members of
the China Iron and Steel Associa-
tion, which were generated over
the past five years, in a bid to
assess innovation capacities of
steelmakers and research insti-
tutions.
CHINA INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY NEWSSMEs win awards at
innovation contest
Thirty small and medium-sized
enterprises won awards at an
innovation and entrepreneur-
ship contest in Beijing in mid-
August. The event targeting
SMEs started in June and
attracted 1,670 entries, more
than triple that of last year. The
entries were from various sec-
tors, including the high-tech
industry and services. Local offi-
cials said the contest helps to fos-
ter high-growth SMEs featuring
core innovation competency.
CHINANEWS.COMHENAN
Authorities take IP
on tour to help poor
The provincial intellectual prop-
erty administration has decided
to embark on a lecture tour,
which will last through October,
promoting IP to help targeted
poverty alleviation. The event is
aimed at encouraging IP crea-
tion, use, protection and man-
agement, and creating a friendly
environment for startup busi-
nesses in a bid to increase local
incomes. The tour will cover 26
counties in 11 cities across the
province. Last year, the themed
tour covered 27 lower income
counties in the province.
CHINA INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY NEWSHUBEI
Brands get own
WeChat account
A WeChat account named
“Hubei’s trademarks and brands”
went online in mid-August. The
move initiated by the Hubei
Intellectual Property Bureau
aims to foster brand awareness,
publicize related policies and lev-
erage internet resources in a bid
to improve local brands’ competi-
tiveness and influence, officials
said. The online service enables
trademark data enquiry, a glance
into Hubei’s brands and other
trademark information.
CNHUBEI.COMGUANGDONG
New rules announced
for prize winners
The Guangdong Provincial
Administration for Market Regu-
lation announced that a new set
of regulations on patent awards
is scheduled to come into effect
on Sept 1. According to the new
rules, winners of silver prizes of
national patent and industrial
design awards will be added to
the list of provincial awardees. In
addition, the number of winners
of the provincial patent golden
awards will be increased to 20
from 15, each awarded 300,
yuan ($42,480), three times the
previous amount.
NANFANG DAILYGuangzhou to host
expo in November
The 2019 Guangdong-Hong
Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area
Intellectual Property Trade Expo
is scheduled for November in
Guangzhou, capital of Guang-
dong province. During the event,
a series of IP-related activities
will be held, including a summit
forum, auction, new product
launches, business-matching and
signing ceremonies. At the same
time, the expo’s online trading
platform will be launched to sup-
port IP assets’ commercialization
and security, as well as financing,
insurance and assessment servi-
ces, organizers said.
GUANGZHOU DAILY