Since the successful promotion of Zigong approval of a national cultural export base, the Provincial Department of Commerce has attached great importance to it, and in conjunction with relevant provincial departments, earnestly implements the relevant requirements of the state and the provincial party committee and government, focusing on expanding cultural exports, enhancing cultural trade competitiveness, and giving play to demonstrations.Strengthen top-level design, highlight guidance services, cultivate market entities, support market development, and base construction has achieved solid results.

Zigong Lantern Festival helps the national cultural export base to improve quality and efficiency. How is the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce making efforts?Let us see.

Working mechanism and development plan "double perfect"

Promote the construction of the base to be included in the Provincial Party Committee’s "Decision on Comprehensively Promoting High-Quality Development", the construction of the Southern Sichuan Economic Zone and the relevant planning documents of our province to promote southward opening.Actively build a "ministry-province-city" vertical linkage working mechanism and a horizontal collaboration mechanism for provincial departments to guide the development of base characteristics.Promote Zigong to incorporate base construction into the municipal party committee and municipal government’s target performance assessment, and establish a base construction leading group with the municipal party committee secretary and mayor as the two leaders.Guide the base to prepare the "Zigong National Cultural Export Base Master Plan (2020-2035)" and formulate the "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Zigong National Cultural Export Base" to clarify the positioning and path of the base's development.

Market players and project carriers "double expansion"

The base deeply implements the "Cultural and Creative Little Giant" and the key cultural export enterprise cultivation plan, and promotes the rapid development of the cultural industry dominated by lanterns and simulation dinosaurs.In 2019, there were 2,000 cultural enterprises in Zigong, a year-on-year increase of 40.8%; 76 cultural enterprises were designated and 11 were newly added; 10 key cultural export enterprises were newly added.The tax revenue of the lantern industry exceeded 50 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.17%; the industry employed about 150,000 people, a year-on-year increase of 50%.

Established "Zigong National Cultural Export Base Construction Major Project Database".In 2019, 26 projects were included in the database, with a planned total investment of 49.4 billion yuan and an annual investment of 2.45 billion yuan. Two projects were selected into the Sichuan Cultural Industry Project Database.The China Lantern World opened smoothly, and projects such as the Dinosaur Culture and Technology Industrial Park and the Gongjing Ancient City well salt Cultural Tourism Resort were accelerated.Featured park projects such as the Lighting Industrial Park, Aviation Science and Technology Cultural Industrial Park, Earth Pottery Cultural and Creative Industrial Park, and Lantern Art Center accelerate industrial agglomeration, and the brand effect is gradually enhanced.

Overseas export markets and cultural export "double growth"

The Provincial Department of Commerce actively plays the role of the "three major platforms" for market expansion, supports base enterprises to participate in major exhibitions such as the Beijing Fair, the West Expo, and the International Cultural Expo, and helps enterprises to explore overseas markets.In 2019, the base has 49 enterprises with actual cultural export performance, 13 new ones added;Lantern companies held 102 lantern festivals in 80 cities in 33 countries, including the United States, Germany, and Japan, a year-on-year increase of 30.7%; cultural exports reached US$42.11 million, a year-on-year increase of 22%; among them, cultural service exports were US$22.61 million, a year-on-year increase 52%.The overseas lantern festival has become the industry that attracts the most tourists among the overseas fee-based exhibition projects of Chinese culture.The lanterns drive Sichuan and even the whole country's characteristic cultural products and services to go out, and promote the development of commerce, catering, tourism, cultural and creative, film and television industries, and the economic and social benefits of "Lantern +" continue to expand.

Brand building and international influence "double-upgrade"

Eight enterprises and two projects in the base were selected as key national cultural export enterprises and projects for 2019-2020, accounting for half of the total number of selected enterprises in the Sichuan.Since 2007, Zigong has accumulated 52 enterprises and 24 projects that have been selected as key national cultural export enterprises and projects. The total number of selected enterprises ranks first in Sichuan, accounting for more than 65% of the Sichuan's total.In 2019, the Chinese ambassadors to Estonia and the Netherlands attended the opening ceremony of the base lantern companies in Tallinn and the Netherlands.

Policy support and business environment "double optimization"

The Sichuan province has issued a series of policy measures, such as "Several Policies and Measures to Support the Construction of the National Cultural Export Base (Zigong)","Several Policies of Zigong on Promoting the Development of the National Cultural Export Base (Trial)","Several Policies for Promoting the Development of Cultural and Creative Industries in Zigong (Trial)" and "About the Talent Support Policy to Promote the Accelerated Development of Lantern Enterprises".

Since 2019, the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce has used the central and provincial foreign economic and trade funds and the central cultural industry development special fund of more than 12 million yuan to support the construction of bases and the development of cultural trade enterprises.The base established the first special fund for the lantern industry in China, innovatively launched numerous financial products, and realized the full coverage of export credit insurance for lantern small and micro enterprises, the goods can be released upon arrival at the port, and all export duty-free businesses are “one-lined”.In 2019, cultural enterprises in the base achieved a financing of 900 million yuan, and lantern cultural export enterprises handled export tax rebates of 9.721 million yuan, an increase of 38.04% year-on-year.At the same time, the base is focusing on accelerating the construction of lanterns talents, actively seeking to add professional titles for lanterns, and building a skill certification platform for lantern practitioners.In 2019, 3718 people were trained in the lantern industry.

The Lantern School of Sichuan University of Science and Technology

was awarded the "Chinese Lantern Art Inheritance Center" by the Chinese Folk Artists Association. Zigong Vocational and Technical School successfully bid for the speciality of traditional folk crafts in Sichuan Province (the direction of lantern design and production).