Digital News

　　Recently, the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference was held in Shanghai. At this global high-level event on artificial intelligence (AI), culture became a major focus, attracting numerous domestic and international experts to engage in lively discussions on the application of AI in art, cultural tourism, gaming, and other fields. As digital technology penetrates deeply into the cultural sector, an industry-wide transformation driven by “technology + culture” is unfolding.

　　Driven by both favorable policies and technological advancement, China’s digital culture industry is demonstrating vigorous vitality and immense potential, emerging as a key engine propelling both cultural prosperity and economic growth. In 2024, the operating revenue of 16 new cultural formats, with the digital culture industry as the mainstay, exceeded 6.67 trillion yuan, accounting for nearly 5% of GDP with a growth rate of 12.4%. Behind these figures lies the deep integration of technological application and content innovation. Empowered by digital wings, culture has transcended the boundaries of time and space, achieving a leap in both influence and value creation.

　　When TikTok redefines the global short-video social experience, when Black Myth: Wukong stirs up an “Oriental mythology whirlwind” in the global gaming market, and when DeepSeek becomes the fastest app in history to gain over 30 million users, Chinese digital culture enterprises are actively participating in the reconstruction of the international cultural discourse system. Having undergone a shift from model replication to large-scale expansion, and further to value reconstruction, China’s digital culture industry is evolving from a participant to a leader in the global value chain, contributing a “China path” to the world.

　　Nevertheless, challenges and concerns cannot be ignored. Homogenization in content innovation and superficial application of digital technologies have become prominent bottlenecks, with many products merely engaging in simple technical stacking. Regional disparities in development are also evident, as high-quality resources and innovative capabilities remain concentrated in economically advanced cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou, leaving significant gaps in central and western regions. Moreover, shortcomings persist in frontier technologies such as advanced rendering engines and digital infrastructure platforms. Looking ahead, advancing the digital culture industry from “quantitative accumulation” to a “qualitative leap” will require concerted efforts from multiple stakeholders.

　　In terms of policy support, it is essential to deepen factor allocation and strengthen development foundations. Efforts should be accelerated to improve the national cultural big data system, establish a comprehensive national standards framework covering technical interfaces, content quality, and copyright protection, and promote cross-domain integration of cultural resources. Priority should be given to the in-depth application and development of disruptive technologies such as AI-generated content (AIGC) and extended reality (XR) in cultural creation, preservation, and dissemination, supported by long-term and stable policies. Mechanisms for data asset ownership, trading, and benefit distribution should be explored to foster an environment conducive to innovation. Regional coordination mechanisms should be optimized, and the “east-data-west-computing” national hub should be leveraged to deploy digital culture computing centers and backup bases in western regions, thereby creating “virtual creative enclaves” for talent and resource sharing.

　　Regarding enterprise practice, strengthening technological breakthroughs and enhancing innovation capacity are imperative. Companies should embrace long-termism, uphold the principle of “content is the core”, and cultivate high-quality intellectual properties that embody the spirit of Chinese aesthetics and the ethos of the times. For example, the game Honor of Kings recreated the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty with its “Chang’an Season” background, serving as a vivid case of digitally revitalized Chinese culture. Enterprises should also intensify efforts in independent research on core technologies, particularly culturally specific algorithmic models and intelligent creative tools, to gradually reduce reliance on foreign foundational tools and platforms. Furthermore, new business models should be explored, encouraging technology companies and cultural institutions to establish “reverse technology licensing” mechanisms, thereby opening up cutting-edge technologies to empower fields such as museums and intangible cultural heritage.

　　As for consumer experience, cultivating a rational market and unleashing consumption potential are crucial. Greater efforts should be made to enhance the accessibility and inclusiveness of digital cultural products, promote age-friendly and barrier-free services, and encourage museums and libraries to develop lightweight cloud-based applications. Rational and healthy consumption habits should be nurtured to foster a market environment featuring respect for originality and willingness to pay for content. It’s necessary to advocate and accelerate the construction of a healthy consumption ecosystem, encourage platforms to design anti-addiction mechanisms, and resist “algorithm traps”. The orderly prosperity of fan-based secondary creation ecology should be supported within the framework of copyright rules, enabling consumers to shift from passive recipients to active participants in cultural production.