A long historical background with an abundance of natural resources have made Fujian Province a major production centre for arts and crafts products on the south-eastern coast of China

Fujian Province, also known as “Min” after the ancient Minyue clan, is divided into nine prefecture-level cities, namely Fuzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Sanming, Putian, Nanping, Longyan and Ningde, as well as the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone. As of 2013, Fujian had a total registered population of 37.74 million people.

Geographical advantage

Fujian is strategically located on the south-eastern coast of the Chinese mainland, facing Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait, and also neighbours Hong Kong and Macau. It is the ancestral homeland of the majority of people living in Taiwan, as well as many overseas Chinese communities spread throughout Southeast Asia.

Fujian’s coastline, the second longest among China’s coastal provinces, is dotted with countless small islets. For this reason, the province was one of the starting points of the ancient “Maritime Silk Road” linking the Chinese mainland by sea to Southeast Asia, Western Asia, East Africa and Oceania. With its long history as a maritime trade hub, Fujian naturally became a pilot province for free trade following China’s economic reforms. In 2014, the handling capacity of Fujian’s ports broke 100 million tonnes for the first time.

Natural highlights

Fujian is a national leader in environmental management which enjoys forest coverage of 66 per cent, the highest in the nation for 36 consecutive years. It is also home to a multitude of nationally and internationally renowned garden cities and natural reserves.

The breathtaking natural features of Fujian include the majestic UNESCO World Heritage Site of Wuyi Mountain, the uniquely coloured Danxia geomorphology, the spectacular Baishuiyang water formations, and the magnificent coastal volcanoes.

Cultural highlights

Fujian has a long and rich cultural heritage. The area was first inhabited by the ancient Tanshishan culture more than 5,000 years ago, and later fostered the distinctive Minnan, Hakka, and shipbuilding cultures of the coast. With its rich links to overseas Chinese communities, Fujian is also the birthplace of a number of significant intellectuals who have influenced the course of Chinese history.

Fujian’s cultural highlights include the holy pilgrimage site of the birthplace of the sea goddess Mazu, the beautiful architecture of the romantic “Piano Island” of Gulang, “the beauty of Huian’s ladies”, the ancient UNESCO-listed Hakka tulou, the site of the glorious Gutian Meeting of the Communist Party, and the relics of the ancient Tanshishan culture.

Fujian’s flourishing cultural industries

Fujian’s abundant resources have provided a firm foundation for the development of its cultural industries, and in recent years the province has set out to build on this foundation with the twin goals of “building a strong cultural province” and “constructing a national base for cultural industries”.

These goals can only be achieved by means of a spirit of innovation, launching significant projects and creating brands. These strategies are meant to speed up the development of the technology, tourism and design sectors, as well as related service industries.

Numerous advantages have resulted from the strong and healthy growth of the cultural industry in Fujian, including a sophisticated and comprehensive industry system, enhanced brand name exposure, a competitive edge for the industry and an expanded talent pool, with upgraded creative capabilities and professional industry integration and specialisation. All of this has led to strong and steady growth in Fujian’s cultural industries.

With Fujian’s commitment to improvement, it is no wonder that 2005–2013 witnessed rapid growth in the value of the industry’s output, from US$2.7bn to US$17.1bn. This figure translates to an average annual growth rate of 28 per cent, far higher even than the overall growth in GDP for the same period. This is especially obvious in the last couple of years, during which the average added value for the cultural industry was around US$3.26bn, surpassing the figure for 2005. The net added value for cultural industries in 2013 accounted for 4.8 per cent of the total provincial GDP, unquestionably demonstrating that this sector has emerged as one of the new engines for growth in the province.

Industry parks form new clusters

Several cultural industry parks have been set up to provide a platform for strengthening industry cohesion, to hatch new projects and to attract quality ventures. Prompted by speedy infrastructure construction, steady development and proactive initiatives from the government, a number of industry parks with unique characteristics and complementary functions have been successfully created. The province now accommodates a total of 81 cultural industry parks including those under construction. These parks are in turn home to thousands of culture-related enterprises, whose scale and specialized capability continue to attract greater investment.

Among the most prominent of these industry parks are the Core Zone for the Fujian and Taiwan (Fuzhou) Cultural Industry, the Cross-Strait Longshan Cultural Innovation Park and the Nanjing Cross-Strait Printing Industry Park. Moreover, the Animation Zone in the second phase of Xiamen Software Park has qualified as a national base for the animation industry, while the Fujian Video and Animation Software Park is qualified as a national base for video and animation, combined with a tourist park.

Similarly, Fuzhou and Xiamen have been designated by the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Science and Technology and State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television as the sites of national cultural industry demonstration parks, cultural and technology integration demonstration base and a digital publication demonstration base. Finally, Fuzhou Creative Advertising Industry Park and Quanzhou SHOW World have been approved by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce as national advertising demonstration parks.

Diversified development

As a key driver of the development of cultural industries, Fujian’s cultural enterprises aim to prosper through a combination of innovation, extending industry links, and more effective capital operations.

Such concerted efforts have enabled key enterprises to go from strength to strength. For example, in 2014 online game developer Fujian Netdragon Websoft Inc had the distinction of securing a place among the top 30 cultural enterprises in the country.

In the areas of publishing and media, Fujian Daily Press Group has grown into a fully fledged modernized media conglomerate owning 11 newspapers, 12 magazines and several news websites. Fujian Media Group has set a goal for itself of becoming an energetic, competitive and influential modern entity that will be the flagship mass media organisation on the western coast of the Taiwan Strait, while the Straits Publishing & Distributing Group has collaborated with its Taiwanese counterparts across the strait to venture into digital publishing opportunities and retail chain operations in the hopes of becoming a major publishing and media enterprise on the global stage.

Finally, in the area of online broadcast delivery, Fujian Broadcast & TV Network Group depends on cloud technology to construct the next generation of broadcasting networks, which will lay the groundwork for a public broadcasting, information services, and culture and entertainment hub.

Policy initiatives

In recent years, Fujian has made continuous improvements in national cultural asset management, cultural exports, industry integration and matching, and in facilitating co-operation among banks, government and enterprises. In tandem with the establishment of a joint conference system and a sound mechanism for the analysis of cultural industries development, an official provincial cultural industry website has been set up to disseminate up-to-date information on cultural projects, thereby creating a framework for all-round co-operation that will propel the industry forward.

The provincial government sees the use of policy initiatives as a powerful lever with which to lift cultural industries to new heights. To this end, the government has issued opinions and suggestions on how the industry can speed up its growth during the period of the 12th Five-Year Plan. The government has also worked out several policy documents that pinpoint reforms for the 10 core cultural industries, including broadcasting, show business and cultural tourism. These documents clearly lay out a framework for industry development, priority issues, tax initiatives, market assessment criteria, land supply and export initiatives, thereby promoting a healthy environment for building a bright future.

Flourishing arts and crafts

Fine and decorative arts from Fujian are highly valued both in China and abroad. The province’s unique geography and abundant natural resources have resulted in the production of an assortment of distinctive goods crafted using superb techniques passed down from generation to generation. The production of arts and traditional handicrafts now heads the top 10 cultural industries in Fujian.

Far-reaching fame

Fujian’s traditional arts and handicrafts can be grouped into 14 categories, including sculpture, jewellery and jade ornaments, lacquerware, porcelain, imagery of flowers, artistic embroidery, metal crafting, antique-style furniture, pulled thread embroidery and various folk crafts. These 14 categories can be further divided into more than 120 varieties, several of which are internationally renowned, including stone carving from Shoushan, bodiless lacquerware and cork painting from Fuzhou, wood crafting from Putian, antique-style furniture crafting from Xianyou, stone carving from Huian, white porcelain from Dehua, lacquer carving from Xiamen, paper-cut lanterns and puppet sculptures from Quanzhou, lacquered baskets from Yungcun, and paper cutting and cotton painting from Zhangzhou.

The Fujian Hall, Taiwan Hall, State Banquet Hall and Lounge Hall in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing are all decorated with art from Fujian, along with countless public squares, parks, large buildings and hallways all over the country. In addition to the reverence for Fujian’s craftsmanship in official settings, porcelain and paintings created in Fujian are also popular household decorations for the common people.

Nationally recognised professionals

For the past couple of years, the value of sales of decorative and fine arts has accounted for more than 40 per cent of the total value of the cultural industries in Fujian. In 2013, the provincial income from the arts and handicrafts industries reached US$21.9bn. Production is led by Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Putian and Xiamen, both in terms of scale and productivity. All four of these cities have long historical traditions as producers of arts and handicrafts.

The province has registered 724 large-sized enterprises in the field, employing more than 314,000 people. Among all of those employed in the industry, 38 are rated as national-level masters of their respective arts and crafts, 247 are considered masters at the provincial level, and 448 have secured membership in the hall of fame.

Cultural branding and promotion

Following the success of Putian Arts & Crafts City, a number of industry bases, parks and dedicated markets have been established. R&D centres and laboratories have also been set up to complement the all-round development of the industry. Within Quanzhou alone, 116 technology research institutes have been set up, including the Dehua Ceramic Technology Research and Product Testing Centre and the China Stone Materials and Grinding Equipment Research Centre. Industry associations such as the Fujian Classical Artistic Furniture Association have also been organised to promote the industry and to help build brand names, enhance quality and expand the market.

Since 2010, a number of industry standards have also been created and enjoy broad recognition. This is best exemplified by Fuzhou’s Shoushan Stone, which was granted a protected geographical indication label in August 2012, with Fuzhou city being awarded the title of capital of Shoushan Stone crafts. The China (Putian) Cross-Strait Arts and Crafts Expo and Fujian Province Arts and Crafts Competition have been held annually for nine and seven years respectively, providing a stage on which to promote Fujian’s diverse arts and crafts.

Specialisation and intensification

Dehua’s porcelain, Huian’s stone carving, Putian’s wood carving, Xianyou’s antique-style furniture and Quanzhou’s resin artefacts have all developed into their own industry clusters. With the support of veteran enterprises and sophisticated infrastructure in key industry parks, these industries are destined to play a major role on the world stage. Putian, in particular, not only leads the nation in the export of paintings, but has even become the representative of China’s oil painting exports abroad.

Fujian’s cultural, crafts and fine arts industry professionals are eager to share expertise and collaborate with like-minded counterparts from all over the world to explore more business opportunities together.



Fujian Cultural Reform and Development Work Leading Group Office
Pingshan Yard, 80 Hualin Rd, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
Tel: 86-591-8727-3850
Email: 765914186@qq.com