Tri-Engine Structure and Industrial Composition of Cultural Productivity

Wang Linsheng

Beijing Academy of Social Sciences

Abstract: Cultural industry is an important practical link to cultural productivity. In China, the cultural industry is represented by three patterns due to the reliance upon different means of production during its course of development: traditional cultural industry, modern cultural industry, and eco-tech cultural industry. Different types of cultural industries differ a lot in terms of labor productivity and return on investment. The multi-engine structure and the diverse industrial categories of China’s cultural industry imply that cultural productivity is not developed evenly in the country. Therefore, the future-oriented cultural development should be geared to stimulate and maintain the vitality of culture to the greatest extent, while adhering to the overall development orientation based on the market, science and technology, creativity, and differentiation.

Keywords: cultural productivity, tri-engine, imbalance, industry category

A major discovery of classical Marxism reveals that culture is a kind of social productivity. Karl Marx incorporated languages, literature, art, science, and technology into this kind of productivity, believing that their achievements were closely linked to the overall productivity and the development level of society for the cultural producers and were restricted by the technical results in art, social organizations, the local division of work, as well as the work division of other countries having relations with the local development. This means that cultural productivity is closely related to material factors of production despite its distinct characteristics of spirituality. Therefore, in this sense, cultural productivity is basically social production based on culture.

Cultural productivity refers to the ability to produce, disseminate, sell, and serve cultural products through the development and exploitation of cultural resources in the process of social and economic development, in order to meet the spiritual and cultural needs of human beings. “In modern socialized production, cultural productivity becomes a direct productivity as it is reflected in the production process in various ways” (Zhou & Liu, 2013). The cultural industry is an important practical link to cultural productivity, which not only embodies the hierarchy and levels of cultural productivity, but also exists in cultural and economic modes based on contemporary socialized production, the market economy, and science and technology, which are shown in different forms and logics in modern economic life. In terms of the overall development of China’s cultural industry, there are three distinct patterns according to different means of production: traditional cultural industry, modern cultural industry, and eco-tech cultural industry, all of which constitute the practical links of China’s cultural industry.

Support of Traditional Culture and Its Industrial Practice

The traditional cultural industry is an important part of cultural productivity. The reason why tradition is a kind of productivity lies in that it is the basis of the development of all industries and bolsters the development of industries. Traditional factors are not inherently constraints on industrial development, but “on the edge of intentional behavior, where they define goals, rules, and standards—with a focus on a field of both intentional pursuits of benefits and passionate behaviors” (Shils, 1991). It is the inheritance and innovation of tradition that enable tradition or traditional cultural resources to play a supporting role in the fundamental structure of industrial development.

The traditional cultural industry closely relies on traditional cultural and industrial resources, such as historical sites, cultural relics, famous towns, ancient buildings, traditional customs, cultural sights, and food specialties. The emerging related content business or service business mainly focuses on cultural product manufacturing, cultural equipment manufacturing, printing and publishing, heritage protection and exploitation, tourism, and entertainment and leisure, which internalizes or externalizes the tradition in the practical structure of the industry. In specific industrial practice, the main industry modes include the manufacturing of cultural chemicals, cultural paper, cultural ink and pigment, fireworks and firecracker products, toys, music, and other ceramic products, garden display art, printing and copying, sales of arts and crafts, sales of cultural musical instruments and photographic equipment, touring services in scenic spots, photography-extended services, books and archives services, culture and art training services, etc. In this kind of industrial practice, the market no longer regards the traditional cultural resources as a static norm but as an exploitable resource. The market is also accepting cultural innovation and providing a broad space for cultural innovation. The reason why cultural tradition can realize self-breakthrough and innovation in the form of industry is that the culture “has shown a leading impulse to pursue novelty and uniqueness, as well as self-awareness to seek future forms of expression and sensational effects, after continuous consolidation over the past century” (Bell, 1989). Therefore, the development and utilization of traditional cultural resources and the transformation of traditional cultural resources into cultural productivity not only demonstrate that the traditional cultural resources still have potential vitality but also justify the market economy’s lawful push for cultural industrialization.

In terms of the contents of production and services, the traditional cultural industry is a relatively low-end category. Based on the processing and manufacturing of materials, it has little technological content and low added value and is almost not creative but homogenous. The traditional cultural industry is obviously dependent on the industry scale and human resources for its development. Some cultural service industries, like tourism, provide services for consumers exclusively relying on the inherent cultural heritage and characteristic landscapes, with the absence of unique and creative product design and experience. However, the industrial chain is obviously not expanded or extended enough. Among the elements of food, housing, transportation, and entertainment, cultural entertainment and consumption only account for 9.58 percent of the total expenditure of residents (NBSPRC, 2020), which is significantly lower than that of food, housing and transportation. This data shows that in the development of tourism, which is a kind of traditional industry, the cultural resources have not been fully utilized or transformed. Cultural products and contents have not been explored, and there is a lack of entertainment activities with distinctive cultural experiences. However, the traditional cultural industry still represents a large proportion of the whole cultural industry in terms of the number of enterprises. The Top 12 large-sized cultural enterprises are mostly devoted to traditional culture, with the top sector being printing and reproduction, followed by arts and crafts manufacturing, sales of arts and crafts, household appliances, cultural musical instruments and photographic equipment, manufacturing of toys and cultural paper, and travel services at scenic spots.

This shows that, on the whole, there are many low-end sectors in the industrial structure of China’s cultural industry, and the industrial structure is unreasonable. Meanwhile, due to the lack of creative development of cultural resources in products, many products are less competitive, resulting in insufficient effective supply and high-end supply in some cases. Therefore, the traditional industry should be transformed and upgraded urgently. However, this does not mean that the traditional cultural industry is not important in the development of the national economy. “Tradition is not only a heritage but also the starting point of new behaviors and an integral part of these new behaviors” (Shils, 1991). In other words, the adjustment of industrial structure does not originate from the disappearing of declining industries and the rising of new ones, but heavily depends on the upgrading of existing traditional industries. Hence, it is crucial to deeply tap the potential of traditional cultural industry in the process of industrial structure adjustment and optimization in this new era.

Modern Cultural Industry and Its Industrial Practice

Science and technology play an important role in productivity. Likewise, cultural productivity counts on science and technology to move forward. Compared with the traditional cultural industry, the modern cultural industry is fully integrated with science and technology and is becoming more creative, intensive, specialized, and market-oriented. The modern cultural industry boasts a sound industrial chain and a mature business operation mode, whereby centralized industrial parks are established. The market plays a key role in the process of resource allocation. The modern cultural industry is categorized into the following types: manufacturing of audio-visual equipment, manufacturing of dedicated radio, television and film equipment, value-added telecommunications services, radio and television transmission services, news services, film and television recording services, cultural software services, architectural design services, copyright services, cultural trade agency and auction, etc. The modern cultural industry is not only a cultural sector but also contains elements of science and technology. During industrial development, culture is increasingly influenced by science and technology and vice versa.

With the further penetration of digitization and informatization in all aspects of our life, science and technology, as the basic driving force of cultural development, are becoming more and more important. This is because they have established the most important platform—the Internet, for cultural development, and have implanted the DNA of innovation and development into different industrial sectors through the Internet. Coupling with the introduction of the concept of “Internet Plus,” which has become popular by relying on the Internet as a platform, the resources of various industries are combined through information and communication technology to drive the integration of different industries, so as to create innovative products and business patterns. Moreover, a rising status of science and technology in cultural productivity allows innovation in the contents of cultural products. Modern digital technology has informationized, digitalized, and streamed cultural contents, such as texts, images, voice, and music in the production. It has also vigorously promoted and improved the development of innovative industries like network services, animation, videos and audios, online games, and digital publishing, helping to effectively accelerate the upgrading of these industries and sectors, and boost the integration of traditional media, such as television, newspapers, radio, films and magazines, with emerging media for innovative development. Especially in the context of the increasing downward economic pressure, it is a constructive way to adjust the economic structure and transform the development mode by vigorously developing the modern cultural industry, enhancing cultural creativity and technological innovation, fostering new economic growth points, booming the cultural economy, stimulating cultural consumption, and effectively increasing the proportion and quality of the tertiary industry represented by the cultural industry in economic development, and helping the cultural industry become a pillar in the national economy.

Cultural sci-tech parks are an important platform for the development of China’s cultural industry, which embodies the level of cultural productivity. The establishment and development of parks aim to promote the creative, professional, and clustering development of the cultural industry through strengthening management, planning guidance and policy support, establishing a role model for the development of the cultural industry, and enhancing the functions of the integrated and innovative cultural, scientific, and technological resources in driving the socio-economic development. Since 2004, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Shenzhen were on the list of the 266 national cultural industry demonstration bases in five batches designated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China. China’s eastern first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou have quite a number of parks included in the demonstration bases, which means that these cities outperform their counterparts in cultural productivity when building the platforms integrating culture and technology based on the park construction and developing the incubation systems for cultural sci-tech industries (products). Furthermore, the industrial clusters comprising industries and parks are conducive to improving the urban infrastructure and giving play to the market network with park clustering effect, proving that cultural productivity promotes the integration of cultural, sci-tech resources, and the transformation of economic development modes.

Table 1 List of Some Cities Having “National Cultural Industry Demonstration Zone” Designated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism

Source: the Ministry of Culture and Tourism

Eco-Tech Cultural Industry and Its Practice

Science and technology have promoted the reform and progress of cultural productivity. It not only innovates the technical tools on which the cultural industry depends, but also re-distributes work on the basis of exploring and utilizing new means of production, bringing about a new industrial cooperation mode or industrial operation mode. Eco-tech cultural industry belongs to a new industrial development category, which overlaps with modern cultural industry in intension and extension: Both of them emphasize the role of modern science and technology in industrial development. However, there are also some differences: The eco-tech cultural industry focuses more on the future and seeks sustainable development of industry and society. It fully relies on modern technologies such as modern big data, cloud computing, IoT, and mobile Internet, and has created many new economic industries during integration with modern manufacturing and production services, such as panentertainment cultural industry with IP as the core resource, secondary meta cultural industry based on animation, virtual culture industry with VR/AR as the core, fan economy industry with live streaming as the core, etc.

Ecology and intelligence are critical characteristics of this kind of cultural industry. Ecology means that the cultural industry is highly sustainable, and there is a benign interaction in the cycle of production–consumption–reproduction. What is most frequently used in the development of the ecotech cultural industry is human knowledge and creativity, rather than material resources. New cultural contents and forms are created amid a continuous renewal of knowledge and creativity. “The essence of creativity is seen as a resourceful ability to evaluate and seek solutions to difficult, unexpected, and unusual problems or situations... It is applied creativity that uses the characteristics like wisdom, invention, and continuous learning” (Landry, 2009). Knowledge and creativity are inexhaustible resources which guarantee industrial sustainability. They can not only realize industrialization through capital intervention, but also create economic benefits with high industrial added value and profits. The pan-entertainment cultural modes with intellectual property as the core resource and the secondary cultural modes based on animation are geared for re-exploration, adaptation, and utilization of existing resources through knowledge and creativity, so as to rediscover the deep conjunction between the past cultural resources and the current fashion and consumption contents, and re-deploy the industrial chain. Meanwhile, this also makes the development of the industry pay more attention to the classical cultural resources and to the cultivation and creation of classic IP, with the aim of realizing the sustainable value of culture.

The intelligent characteristics of industries are closely combined with science and technology. As one of the three cutting-edge technologies in the 21st century, artificial intelligence (AI) will gradually penetrate into various fields in future development. As an industrial category closely combined with science and technology, the cultural industry will inevitably integrate with artificial intelligence in the process of further consolidating its role as a pillar industry of the national economy. In September 2016, Stanford University released the research reportArtificial Intelligence and Life in 2030, which believes that this technology has a wide range of applications. When it comes to the cultural industry, the technology can be applied to social networks, entertainment media, education and training, image simulation, and aerospace, and will create a brand-new mode of collection, organization, and distribution of cultural/media content. In order to further promote the intelligent development of the industry, the United States releasedPreparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligenceand theNational Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Planin October 2016, and the United Kingdom unveiledArtificial Intelligence: Opportunities and Implications for the Future of Decision Makingin December 2016. Both countries vigorously develop artificial intelligence (AI) technology, promote the transformation of AI sci-tech achievements, foster continuous innovation and growth of culture in the economic field, and create virtual culture equipment and content industries with VR/AR technology as the core, and with AI software/platforms, AI visual recognition systems, AI wearable devices, AI game control platforms, AI virtual reality, AI targeted marketing, AI e-commerce retail, AI film and television, and AI creation/translation as the mainstream.

The emerging eco-tech cultural industry will greatly enhance cultural productivity, effectively combine culture, science and technology, and ecology, and make knowledge, creativity, and science and technology the most active factors in production. In the development of the eco-tech cultural industry, inter-industrial integration will become the norm pattern of industrial development. Products are obviously more characterized by intelligence, mobility, portability, interaction, and multimedia, while communication voice services, Internet access services, information content services, and software application services will constitute an integral part of the eco-tech cultural industry chain. This inter-industrial integration not only means the overstepping between culture and science and technology, but also contains the infiltration of culture and science and technology into other fields. It can be said that in the evolution of culture-technology integration, the eco-tech cultural industry makes the inherent boundaries between industries become vaguer. In the new production relationship formed based on knowledge, creativity, and technology, the interaction and role transformation between content providers and platform operators of cultural products are happening more frequently. The forms of cultural products, contents, businesses, and services have deviated from the traditional culture to varying degrees. The business pattern of “service + terminal” will become the most distinctive feature of the entire industrial chain.

Development Orientation of China’s Cultural Industry Under Diversifeid Industrial Structure

The multi-engine structure and diverse industrial categories of China’s cultural industry demonstrate the various levels of cultural productivity in the country. During the development of these three types of industries, the traditional cultural industry is the foundation and has a strong pool of broad industrial resources and bases. As a labor-intensive industry, it is apparently effective in offering a great number of jobs, but these jobs are less competitive and profitable. The traditional cultural industry needs to be upgraded and transformed in the process of promoting the optimization of the regional industrial pattern. The modern cultural industry, a mainstay in the cultural field, boasts mature market operation modes and industrial development parks. In the context of supplyside structural reform, the modern cultural industry drives industrial adjustment through scitech innovation, and has become a key to the transformation of economic development mode and promoting industrial quality and efficiency. The eco-tech cultural industry represents the futureoriented development, and grows on the basis of knowledge and creativity. It not only strengthens the ability of resource integration and overall planning but also drives sustainable development of the industry.

Nevertheless, the productivity factors on which the three types of industries rely, as well as their economic and technological attributes and functions, vary from each other, indicating that they get involved in social and economic development activities on behalf of different levels of productivity. The unbalanced development of productivity causes great differences in labor productivity and Return of Investment (ROI) among various sectors of China’s cultural industry and will give rise to repeated construction due to the pursuit of high economic profits, likely leading to inharmonious development, unreasonable resource allocation, and weak competitiveness of the cultural industry amongst different regions. In order to address the imbalance of China’s cultural productivity and promote China’s cultural industry in a rapid, healthy, and orderly manner, it’s required to stimulate and maintain the market vitality of new business patterns to the greatest extent. In the future, attention shall be put on the following issues in industrial development or policy-making.

First, we should adhere to the orientation of market-oriented development. The market should play a principal role in the process of industrial development. The government’s “policy benefits” play an obvious role in the development of cultural industry due to the institutional mechanisms formed over a long period of time, and the market-oriented modern market system is yet to be further improved. In view of the uneven development of cultural productivity, the authorities of the cultural industry should give full play to the macro-regulatory functions and establish the development concept of taking enterprises as the mainstay. We should respect the wishes of enterprises in the development of cultural industry, spur them to allocate resources in line with market laws in competition, and actively explore the innovation of development paths, marketing modes, and financing approaches according to their own productivity level.

Second, we should adhere to the orientation of sci-tech development. Facilitating the application of science and technology in the development of cultural productivity and cultural industry is conducive not only to the transformation of sci-tech achievements but also to the transformation of cultural resources into cultural capital. In a move to improve cultural productivity, break up the imbalance of cultural productivity, and boost the sci-tech culture and cultural sci-tech development, we should strengthen sci-tech research and development, increase support for sci-tech innovation, encourage and support cultural and technological enterprises to become the major players of sci-tech innovation, enhance their own R&D ability and market competitiveness in the field of technological innovation, thereby taking initiatives in the market competition by relying on technological innovation. In the meantime, technological innovation is aimed to provide support for the transformation of cultural resources. Therefore, only by fully combining technological innovation and cultural creativity can we get rid of the “contradiction” between cultural resources and sci-tech resources during integrated development. In order to optimize the internal structure of the cultural industry, we shall attach great importance to cultivating the market’s ability to allocate resources, and also actively improve intermediary services and organizations, provide platforms for product R&D, information dissemination, financing, and product trading that are crucial for the transformation of sci-tech achievements and cultural resources, while propelling efficient and sound development of the cultural industry in the interaction of resources, enterprises, and markets, and strengthening the innovation ability and competitiveness of the entire industry.

Third, we should adhere to the orientation of creative development. The cultural industry cannot develop or prosper without creative ideas. In the new economic era, the economic development mode and concept have changed significantly, and the traditional cultural industry with a certain degree of pollution and lower ROI has been gradually edged out. On the contrary, the importance of creativity based on knowledge capital has been recognized by more and more people, who begin to strengthen productivity by creativity. Thus, innovation and creativity derived from personal talent have replaced inherent resources and capital as an engine of social and economic development, and personal creativity is now the key to the development of the cultural industry. “Creativity is not a stranger, nor is it an economic term, but it is a new issue in terms of the nature of creativity, as to how closely creativity is related to economy, and the extraordinary value and fortune they jointly create” (Santos, 2008). In the traditional cultural industry, originality or creativity is not at the core of products but exists as an appendage. Strengthening the bolstering effect of creativity in the cultural industry, especially in the traditional cultural industry, will make up for the shortcomings of the lowend cultural industry, improve the industrial development level, promote the balance and optimization of the internal structure of the cultural industry, and give full play to the openness, inclusiveness, and “mixing” advantages, thus enabling the cultural industry to play the biggest role in the broader economic or commercial horizon.

Fourth, we should adhere to the orientation of differentiated development. Due to the structural imbalance within the cultural industry, repeated construction of regional cultural industry probably occurs, which will waste valuable resources and deprive regions of their characteristics to some extent. The homogenization of industrial development is a major bottleneck in the development of the cultural industry. For example, among the 30 municipal agglomeration areas in Beijing, four are predominated by software, network, and computer services, four by new network media and original music making, three by film and television programs and animation game production, and three by film & television content of new media, press and publication, advertising, conventions & exhibitions, distribution, and media copyright trading. This homogenization shows that driven by the initial industrial policy, the function of the market to optimize the allocation of resources has not been brought into full play due to the defective market mechanism, and the market subjects are unwisely devoted to industries with a higher ROI, resulting in the loss of characteristics of regional industries. The development of cultural industry should be coordinated on the premise of the improvement of overall productivity, which is not only necessary for complementing industrial advantages but also for improving the efficiency of the industry to the greatest extent. Facing the homogenization trend of cultural industry and the current situation of unbalanced development between regions and industrial structure, we should integrate the markets of regional cultural industry on the basis of enhancing regional management, according to the regional functional positioning and development advantages under the principle of “differentiated competition,” so as to form agglomeration advantages, develop agglomeration brands and enhance the competitiveness of industrial development within a certain region.

Conclusions

On the whole, the tri-engine structure in the development of China’s cultural industry is the unambiguous reality of the current cultural industry, which manifests the productivity level represented by different regions and cultural industries. At present, promoting and realizing the high-quality development of cultural industry has become an important part of the national cultural strategy. In this macro context, to push forward the market-oriented, sci-tech, creative, and differentiated development of the cultural industry, it is imperative to coordinate the relationship between culture and society, economy, science and technology, ecology, and other fields through the top-level design, systematically analyze the development status, advantages, and existing problems and challenges of the national and regional cultural industry, and tap the industrial efficiency of different types of cultural industries to the maximum extent.