Cultural undertakings prosper in Wuxi

A bird's eye view of Wuxi. [Photo/Wuxi Daily]

Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province has seen booming cultural undertakings in recent years due to its efforts to develop cultural industries.

The birthplace of Wu Culture, Chinese industrial and commercial businesses, and township enterprises, Wuxi has been rated as a national Historic and Cultural City, a demonstration zone of the national public cultural service system, and a national cultural export base.

Donglin Academy in Wuxi has a history of nearly 1,000 years. [Photo/Wuxi Daily]

Currently, the city has 18 cultural industrial parks, 64 museums on record, and nearly 1,000 cultural enterprises above designated size. In 2022, the added value of cultural industry in the city exceeded 65 billion yuan ($8.92 billion) with an annual increase rate of 14.3 percent.

A craftsman makes a pottery teapot in Wuxi. [Photo/Wuxi Daily]

To protect outstanding traditional Chinese culture and inherit Jiangnan culture, Wuxi has launched projects to revitalize cultural relics and historic sites and explore innovation in local intangible cultural heritage preservation.

This year, Wuxi has rolled out a series of measures to promote the development of cultural industry. The city will also build three cultural landmarks – the Wuxi Culture and Art Center, Wuxi Symphony Hall, and Wuxi Art Museum, as well as 100 small theaters, 100 cultural exhibition halls, and 100 public cultural spaces over the following three years.