Shenzhen ICIF Wraps Up: 2.8 Million Visitors, 22 Deals Signed — Japanese Content Firms Among ThemA · FULL TRANSLATION
- The 22nd China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair ran May 21-25
- Eight pavilions covered 160,000 square meters with over 120,000 cultural exhibits
- 6,312 exhibitors participated online and offline, including 310 foreign firms from 65 countries; visitors totaled about 2.8 million, up roughly 600,000
- 22 projects were signed in film, animation, gaming and more — including two with Japanese content companies
The Shenzhen fair's numbers are characteristically grand, but the key detail in JETRO's report is the two gaming and animation deals signed by Japanese content firms. Amid chilly Japan-China relations and tightening content censorship, Japanese IP holders still chose to engage — evidence that China's market gravity still works. Chinese platforms need Japanese IP to elevate their content tier; licensing demand stays steady beneath the political frost.
Note also the structural shift: exhibits are moving from traditional crafts to AI glasses and robots, with technology rewriting the definition of 'cultural industry' — a race that parallels Japan's Cool Japan 2.0 content-tech strategy. For content industries caught between the two, like Taiwan's, the political risk of licensing into China keeps rising, making global channels via Japanese and American platforms the more viable route.
As culture fairs become tech shows, who is taking control of cultural export away from creators?
The 22nd China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF), a state-level comprehensive cultural industry exhibition, was held May 21-25 in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.
This edition ran primarily in person with a hybrid online component. The main venue comprised eight pavilions: three general halls plus five specialized halls — Fashion & Art, International Cultural Trade, Cultural Heritage & Innovation, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Cultural Industry Innovation, and Culture & Technology. Provincial and municipal booths filled the general halls, while the specialized halls showed foreign content, games, AI-equipped glasses, robots, and more. Total exhibition space reached 160,000 square meters with over 120,000 cultural products displayed. A combined 6,312 government bodies, cultural institutions, and companies exhibited online and offline, including 310 foreign companies from 65 countries and regions. Visitors totaled about 2.8 million, up roughly 600,000 from the previous edition.
According to the 21st Century Business Herald of May 25, 22 projects were signed at the Guangdong key cultural industry signing ceremony during the fair, spanning film and TV, animation, online games, esports, and livestreaming — including two projects in which Japanese content companies concluded partnership agreements in gaming and animation.