UNCTAD Creative Economy Outlook report available in Chinese

The UNCTAD Creative Economy Outlook report has been translated into Chinese and maps the nation's creative rise over the past 15 years.

China’s export of creative goods and services has been a boon for the country’s creative economy – and for the rest of Asia.

A recent UNCTAD report on the creative economy shows that China’s trade in creative goods and services is outstripping those of other countries, making it the driving force behind a prosperous global creative economy over the past 15 years.

It has also pulled along other Asian countries. In the global trade in creative goods, more than 50% of the top performing developing nations were Asian.

“China’s contribution to the global creative economy is both important and has driven more than a decade’s worth of growth in creative industries and services,” said UNCTAD’s creative economy head, Marisa Henderson. “Indications are that it will continue to grow.”

A Chinese version of the Creative Economy Outlook: Trends in International Trade in Creative Industries was presented at the 4th Beijing International Forum on Creative Economy on 29 May, as part of the China International Fair for Trade in Services.

It shows China’s trade in creative goods grew exponentially between 2002 and 2015, at an annual rate of 14%.

During the same period, China was the biggest single exporter and importer of creative goods and services, the report finds.

In 2002, the country’s trade in creative goods amounted to US$32 billion. By 2014, this figure had increased more than fivefold, climbing to US$191.4 billion.

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Since 2004, UNCTAD has played a leading role in analyzing the creative industries and providing insight into the global creative economy through its Creative Economy Programme. UNCTAD’s work has elevated the ‘creative economy’ on the world economic and development agenda. The programme’s core focus is on trade in the creative industries and the role of the creative economy in the growth of developing economies.

UNCTAD’s data driven insights on trade in creative goods and services make a unique contribution to understanding the creative economy at a time when many emerging economies and developing countries are seeking to diversify their economies