Cities' dialogue plants new seeds for their cultural industries

The first Conversation Between Guangzhou and Zhanjiang Over Cultural Development was held in Zhanjiang on Wednesday. It was an important event as part of the City of Mangroves culture week this year.

The dialogue event promoted targeted matching in the cultural industry and in-depth cooperation between Zhanjiang and Guangzhou.

Zheng Haoran, head of the Zhanjiang publicity department, said at the event that Guangzhou is noted for its history and comprehensive economic and cultural strength, while Zhanjiang has a profound culture and distinctive advantages as it is situated at the juncture of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Hainan Free Trade Port and the Beibu Gulf city cluster.

"The partnership between Guangzhou and Zhanjiang is a beneficial exploration for Guangdong's regional collaborative development strategy to make new breakthroughs in the cultural industry," he noted.

Zhanjiang regards the dialogue event as a new starting point to expand communication and cooperation in the cultural industry, he added.

Huang Qifan, executive deputy director of the academic committee at the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy and former mayor of Chongqing in Southwest China, delivered a keynote speech at the event, suggesting a path to the two cities' cooperation in the cultural industry.

Both cities should focus on promoting the development of their industrial culture, Huang said.

He said that Guangzhou's resources in terms of its industrial chains can work with Zhanjiang's cultural resources as the former's strong capacity for cultural content creation, investment and operations may help to develop the latter's heritage, natural resources and intellectual property.

He suggested that Guangzhou's leadership in cultural creation, innovativeness and the digital cultural industry be applied to the development of Zhanjiang's historical and cultural resources such as Cantonese and Leizhou operas.

On the sideline of the event, several guests praised the city's endeavor to protect its mangroves and they talked of the roles mangrove resources can play in the city's cultural industry development.

Xiang Xi, chairman of Guangzhou-based Time Network, said: "Zhanjiang boasts rich cultural resources, and the mangrove forest culture is an important constituent of Zhanjiang's culture."

Protecting and making good use of its green resources, primarily its mangrove forests, will contribute to the green rise of Zhanjiang, Xiang said.

As open cities known for their culture, Zhanjiang and Guangzhou can utilize the mangrove resources to develop green tourism, which in turn can help to spread the cities' culture, Xiang added.

Lin Dihuan, a cartoonist and calligrapher from Zhanjiang who is popular nationwide, said that Zhanjiang has a long coastline and many naturally pretty mangrove forests. Each forest contains a huge ecosystem and looks romantic and vibrant.

He said he will continue to explore the cultural resources related to mangrove forests and create pleasant, interesting and representative cultural images based on fiddler crabs and egrets in the mangrove forests.

According to an action plan Zhanjiang released in late 2021, the city intends to build a mangrove eco-tourism economic belt by 2025 and to integrate tourism elements of the mangrove forests into the larger cultural industry chain.

Huang Qifan, executive deputy director of the academic committee at the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy, delivers a speech on Wednesday. ZHANG FENGFENG/FOR CHINA DAILY

Scan the codes to learn more about Zhanjiang.