In implementing the “Culture+” strategy, Huai’an City has effectively integrated and explored unique cultural resources and applied cultural innovation and creative achievements to serve the economic and social development.
On the economic front, Huai’an hosted contests to boost cultural innovation. The city’s two “cultural banks”, financial institutions jointed developed by local government and banks to offer tailored support for cultural companies, provided loans of nearly 200 million yuan ($28.9 million) for small and medium-sized enterprises. Huai’an Incubation Base also debuted on Shanghai Equity Exchange, offering assistance to SME cultural firms to go public. Three companies in culture or science and technology were now listed in “new third board,” or China's National Equities Exchange and Quotations, and in Hong Kong. The flowers fair was also organized in Huaiyin District.
In the tourism sector, the city’s museums, cultural centers and memorial halls have all introduced new products. Huai’an also supported the development of rural tourism and started building major cultural projects, including the Li Canal Cultural Corridor with an investment of over 20 billion yuan and the Baima Lake Park with an investment of over 5 billion yuan. Li Canal is part of the Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the longest artificial river in the world.
Huai’an also makes full use of strategic resources. The city showcased a 128-meter-long brocade, featuring Chinese classic novel Dream of the Red Chamber, in Sweden, and actively joined the development of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt.
Huai’an residents also find their lives benefit from the Culture+ strategy. The city organized hundreds of cultural lectures and art exhibitions, screened thousands of movies and performed operas in the countryside, and donated tens of thousands of books to villages. Huai’an has also put into operation of 28 digital cinemas.
(source:jschina.com.cn)
