Commercial businesses seek more opportunities to cooperate with cultural businesses

A cross-Straits cultural business connecting forum was held on Oct 25, in Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Center, Xiamen, Fujian province. The business connecting event, a part of the 7th cross-Strait (Xiamen) culture industry fair (CCCIF), marked the first business connection event in China’s cultural fairs.

The connecting forum attracted 200 substantial commercial real estate developers in the Chinese mainland, including Wanda and Vanke, and 100 Taiwanese cultural companies. The numbers hit a record high in the national cultural fairs.

The forum also invited many cross-Straits cultural business pioneers, such as Hong Kong K11, Shanghai Xintiandi, Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Town, and Huashan Creative Park from Taiwan, and the first cultural business advocator in Taiwan – Shuili Snakekiln Ceramics Cultural Park.

Cultural businesses in Taiwan have professionals, developed patterns and brands, while the Chinese mainland possesses unexploited capital, markets and resources. Cross-Straits cooperation therefore has much potential and can even help to pave the way for the new development of commercial real estate business, according to Lin Xu, the CEO of the Fujian branch of Winshang website, China’s top portal in commercial real estate business.

The commercial real estate business, as a dark horse in China’s real estate business, is flourishing and facing challenges in China. The single mode and business resource shortage are the major problems. It is a solution combining commercial real estate business with cultural business, because the latter’s unlimited creativity can help enlarge the former’s possibilities, said Lin.

Shopping malls, and even the whole commercial real estate industry have more similarities than distinctive features. The point is to find a theme, which needs support from cultural creativities and diversities, according to Zhong Wenjia, director of the strategy research center of Winshang Co.


Cultural-commercial business is an emerging business pattern which sets cultural businesses as a driver to develop commercial real estate business. The forum aimed to find ways to graft the successful cultural business models to the mainland’s commercial real estate companies.

Franz Chen, the founder of the Franz Collection Co, a famous Taiwan cultural enterprise, shared his experience and business ideas.

The Franz Company has set its production base in “the city of porcelain” – Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province, because the products coming from this art cradle can catch the original culture of porcelain art.

Chen said that cultural value is the core of cultural business, and that the esteem and respect for national culture are the roots of the national cultural business’s boom. “Do you still want to watch American films if Hollywood is abandoned by local people?”

Chen showed his desires for cross-Straits cooperation, and proposed the creation of a “modern China life style”. "I try to promote Chinese culture onto the world stage, and desire more for attracting the world to come to China.”

By Zhai Song and edited by Brian Salter