Arts create $1.1b in added value

Shanghai's arts sector created 6.7 billion ($1.1 billion) yuan worth of added value in 2012, up 15.4 percent from the previous year, municipal government officials said Thursday at a press conference on the development of the city's cultural and creative industries.

The industries created 226.9 billion yuan in added value last year, an increase of 10.8 percent over 2011.

The arts sector was the third fastest growing part of the cultural and creative industries, following the consulting sector and the advertising and exhibition sector.

The performance sector's gains were the most eye-catching segment of the art sector in 2012. The performance sector took in 1.5 billion yuan in revenue, an increase of 9 percent over 2011, according to the press release from the conference.

Performance agencies contributed 48 percent of the revenue, followed by theaters, which contributed 29 percent, and performance groups, which contributed 23 percent. Shanghai's film industry also developed quickly in 2012. Annual box office revenue grew at an annual rate of 32 percent to roughly 1.3 billion yuan. Nearly 32 million people went to the cinema last year.

Of all of the movies screened, 28 were shot by Shanghai-based movie studios, which made 400 million yuan in revenue.

There were 96 movie studios operating in  Shanghai in 2012, up 60 percent from the previous year.

Eight animated movies were made in 2012. Mission Incredible: Adventures on the Dragon's Trail and The Monkey King took in 200 million yuan at the box office in 2012.

The import and export value of Shanghai's cultural and creative products increased by 3.7 percent last year to 16.8 billion yuan, of which the export value was 10.4 billion yuan and the import value was 6.5 billion yuan, said Zhang Zhijing, vice director of the Shanghai Cultural and Creative Industries Promotion Office.

Shanghai exported its cultural and creative products mainly to the US, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It imported products primarily from Japan, Korea, Germany and the US, Zhang said.