Phoenix Satellite TV:

I have two questions. First, what measures will Guangdong take to jointly promote cultural development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which is stressed in the area's development plan? Second, as you just said, Guangdong is fully confident in its ability to develop its economy and cope with its challenges. How much impact does the economic and trade friction between China and the United States have on Guangdong, since there are many high-technology enterprises in the province? What measures have you taken to ease the impact? Thank you.

Ma Xingrui:

Now Mr. Fu Hua will answer your questions. He is a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and head of the Publicity Department of Guangdong province. He is in charge of related works.

Fu Hua: 

Jointly promoting cultural development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is a significant part of the area's development. As you know, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao share the same culture, making it easy to promote cultural development in the area. Besides, over the past 40 years of reform and opening-up, the three regions have enjoyed increasingly close and active cultural exchanges. These have laid the foundation for jointly promoting cultural development and spreading cultural values in the bay area.

According to the requirements of the Development plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, certain arrangements and considerations have been made by Guangdong province in jointly building a cultural Bay Area. Not long ago, we published a Three-year Plan of Guangdong province to establish a circle of culture in the Greater Bay Area. We will be carrying out certain preliminary policies from 2019 to 2022 based on the following three aspects. First, as the shared wealth and the cultural basis of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, Lingnan culture should be treated as a bridge to carry forward China's fine traditions and to promote its innovative transformation and development. Second, the rich cultural resources in the Bay Area will be fully utilized, and the rich cultural products of the new era should be put forward. Third, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao should focus on cultural communication by presenting the story of China and its Bay Area in a more compelling way. 

In terms of specific works concerned, our vision is as follows:

First is to promote the development of a culturally prosperous province. The cultural capacity of Guangdong needs to be further developed in order to collaboratively build a cultural Bay Area. With the initiative of the Party committee and the government of Guangdong province, a Three-year Plan to develop the cultural prosperity of Guangdong has been created, which consists of 10 key programs and 50 projects, including the inheritance and innovation of Lingnan culture, the promotion of the high-quality development of the cultural industry in Guangdong, and the endeavor to elevate the culture and arts of Guangdong to a new level in the new era. Among all the fine arts of Guangdong, it is necessary for the excellences to stand out to present the essentials of the new era.

Second is to deepen cultural exchange and cooperation, which is of great significance. So far, our concerns have been mainly focused on five aspects as follows. First, we will co-host the cultural festival of the Greater Bay Area, organizing public galas and events to promote Lingnan culture, notably the Cantonese opera, dragon boat, martial arts and Guangdong lion dance. Second, we will work with Hong Kong and Macao to protect our cultural heritage and to raise people's awareness in this regard. Third, we will promote the in-depth integration of our cultural industry into tourism, by innovating on the industrial chain and developing a world-class resort in the Bay Area. Fourth, we will collaboratively work to improve the cultural and creative industries. As over 300 industrial parks in these fields are in Guangdong province, the cultural and creative industries have room to thrive in the Bay Area. Finally, we will build the Alliance for Art and Culture of the Greater Bay Area in order to promote the collaboration of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao in producing films, TV series, literature, music and artworks to present the development of the Bay Area. More cultural icons with characteristics of the Bay Area should be created.

Third is to provide more support for, and to create a better environment in the area of public opinion on the development of the Greater Bay Area. We are aware that on May 19, the first Media Summit of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was organized in Guangdong province. The summit was a success, and over 110 media outlets from Guangdong, Beijing and Taiwan covered the summit, which was attended by a total of more than 600 media professionals and guests. During this one-day event and three days of interviews, we achieved a lot. This can be seen not only in the over 3,000 original news reports on the development of the Bay Area, but also in the consensus among many media outlets on how to present the first-class Bay Area. In this regard, we will work hard to make further progress in the gathering of media resources. Because the Greater Bay Area is a new area of growth, it will surely be under the spotlight. We hope that media around the world will pay more attention to the construction of the Greater Bay Area, thereby attracting more resources for its development in order to jointly contribute to an environment with first-class media and public opinion. Thank you.

Ma Xingrui:

Just now, Mr. Fu answered your first question. In order to create a strong cultured province, I think another point is also important - that is that advanced culture needs to be promoted by advanced technology. In my opinion, the cultural industry or cultural undertakings not only provide us with nourishment for our mind, but also stimulate technological development. Next, we are planning to popularize 4K, 8K and 5G, which will surely bring huge benefits to cultural communication. Therefore, the cultural industry has great demands and significant driving forces for technology.

I would like to answer the second question briefly. Recently, the trade friction between China and the U.S. has become an extremely important international issue. Yesterday, the State Council Information Office (SCIO) of China published a white paper clearly indicating China's stance on trade consultations. It said that the trade friction is provoked unilaterally by the U.S. and is not in line with related international rules. The continuous escalation of  trade friction is not only detrimental to economic and social development, enterprises and people on both sides, but is also harmful to the world's economy. Guangdong is a big province in regard to international business and economics, because we account for about one fifth of the total trade value between China and the U.S. Currently, enterprises and the market economy in Guangdong still have relatively high economic vitality. Tested by the 2008 international financial crisis, they have become more resilient and are better equipped to resist risks and support economic development. Guangdong has paid much attention to intellectual property (IP) protection, we have IP courts and established a standardized IP trading system. In addition, we have a bunch of enterprises that demonstrate a strong ability to innovate, such as Huawei which is a world leader in cutting edge 5G technology. Trade friction between China and the U.S. does have some effect on Guangdong, but it's generally within control. Thank you.

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