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Agreements strengthen ties between UK and Chinese creative industries.

Co-organised by the UK Department for International Trade (DIT) and the Chinese State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), the UK-China Creative Innovators Forum was held yesterday in Shanghai at the China Financial Information Centre. Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport the Rt. Hon. Karen Bradley and Vice Minister of SAPPRFT Tong Gang attended the forum and witnessed the signing ceremonies for five major commercial agreements reached between UK and Chinese industry players.

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Karen Bradley said:

The UK and China have entered a golden era of collaboration and it’s fantastic to see a flourishing relationship between two countries that have both made the creative industries one of their priorities. In fact, the creative industries are a key part of the UK Government’s industrial strategy and form part of China’s thirteenth 5 Year Plan.

The five commercial announcements covered a wide range of areas in the creative sector:

Abertay University, Europe’s leading university for computer games education, signed a partnership agreement with Perfect World, one of the world’s largest games companies, to increase learning opportunities in computer games for Chinese graduates by offering an exclusive route to fully prepare them to enter the University’s renowned Professional Masters in Games Development.

Lion Television and China-based Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation announced an agreement to co-produce Tales from Modern China, a programme that aims to explore the civilisation of ancient and modern China from a global perspective.

Unanico Group, an international award-winning independent production company and animation studio based in London and Shanghai, agreed with China Lion Entertainment Production Co. on a £40 million co-operation in the production and distribution of animated feature films. The start of production for the first feature film will likely be announced at the beginning of 2017.

Unanico Group also announced a strategic partnership with Hunan Mango Entertainment Co. Ltd a wholly owned subsidiary of Hunan Broadcasting System, the second largest TV network in China, for a slate of live action films.

Cloth Cat Animation, based in Cardiff and Chinese company Magic Mall announced collaboration on a new animation series based on Magic Mall’s successful character Luo Bao Bei. The 52 episode series will be produced in the UK for Chinese broadcast in June 2017 and then distributed around the world on terrestrial broadcast and digital platforms. It is anticipated that this project will bring up to £3.2 million into the Welsh economy.

Over 150 senior executives and industry players from both the UK and China attended the one-day forum. These include well-known companies such as BBC Worldwide, ITV Studios, Framestore UK (visual after effects company for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Pinewood Studios, and,from China, iQiyi, Shanghai Media Group and Jiangsu TV. Companies developing and applying virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), such as Alchemy VR, The Foundry, Whaley, Motion Magic, LeVR and 7tin Network also attended panel discussions and one-on-one business meetings. British actor Dominic Cooper, star of ‘Warcraft’, also shared his experience with UK-China collaboration during his onstage interview.

Notes to editors

For media enquiries, please contact: Christina Kong, Department for International Trade British Embassy Beijing Phone: 010-51924021 Email:Christina.Kong@fco.gov.uk