Shenzhen plans to become regional center for culture

Shenzhen is well-known for being a technological and innovative powerhouse in China, but local officials want to ensure that is not the only thing the city is known for. Laterly, they have been putting cultural projects into focus.

"The city aims to become a regional cultural center and an international cultural innovation pioneer," said Li Xiaogan, director of the Shenzhen publicity bureau.

The city, once a fishing town in South China's Guangdong province, is one of China's most well-known economic miracles over the past 40 years. Today, its gross domestic product ranks third among cities in the Chinese mainland, following Beijing and Shanghai.

The government's goals in terms of culture were specified in a guideline issued in July promoting the quality development of cultural creativity and design in Shenzhen.

According to the guideline, cultural creativity industries in Shenzhen will generate at least 100 billion yuan ($14.2 billion) in revenue by 2020, which will be further increased to 300 billion yuan by 2035.

The number of institutions and companies involved in the industries will rise to 15,000 by 2020 with 100,000 employees. The number of employees will further rise to 150,000 by 2035, according to the guideline.