CBN丨China's flagship cultural fair features “technology as skeleton, culture...

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More than six-thousand exhibitors attend the 21st China International Cultural Industries Fair(ICIF) in South China's Shenzhen beginning Thursday.

With a record-breaking scale, the five-day fair brings together6,280 government delegations, cultural institutions, and enterprisesfor online and offline exhibitions, showcasing over120,000 cultural products. Additionally, more than4,000 cultural industry investment and financing projectswill be displayed and traded onsite, reflecting the vibrancy of China’s cultural economy.

Recognized as one of China's most influential cultural expos, the 2025 edition features 305 overseas exhibitors from more than 65 countries and regions, with the number of participating nations along the Belt and Road Initiative hitting an all-time high. It is expected to attract35,000 overseas professional visitors from 110 countries and regions, underscoring its growing influence as a global cultural exchange hub.

A core theme of this year’s fair is the deep integration of technology and culture. For the first time, anArtificial Intelligence (AI) Exhibition Zonehas been established, featuring over 60 leading enterprises in the AI field.

Chinese AI search innovator DeepSeek and trendy toy giant Pop Mart—both making global headlines this year—are participating with cutting-edge equipment and stylish blind boxes.

Leveraging technologies like AI, the metaverse, virtual reality, digital exhibition halls, and cloud computing, visitors can virtually journey through the prosperous Tang Dynasty with poet Li Bai or engage closely with Dunhuang’s ancient civilization without leaving their homes.

Popular exhibits range from Dunhuang’s Silk Road-inspired intangible cultural heritage crafts and cultural and creative products to smart cockpits, humanoid robots, and AI glasses from the Greater Bay Area, which blend practicality with aesthetic value.

Notably, humanoid robots at the fair have engaged in “soul-touching” interactions with visitors, embodying a breakthrough in “technology + culture” as new productive forces.

This year’s fair not only showcases China’s cultural soft power but also highlights its commitment to fostering global cultural trade and technological collaboration, with the first-ever "Chinese Culture Going Global" section this year that allows Chinese enterprises to showcase their cultural exports.

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