Hongkou Cultural-Creative Industry Association Elects New Leadership to Boost Capacity, With Brand-New Service System Driving Regional Industrial Upgrade
The 2026 General Assembly of the Hongkou District Cultural and Creative Industry Promotion Association (hereinafter referred to as Hongkou CCIPA) was recently held at the North Bund.
Centered on the theme “Integration & Innovation, Cohesion & Empowerment — Culture Fuels High-Quality Industrial Development”, the conference unveiled the innovative “C+MICE” service system, inaugurated four specialised committees, and hosted a series of ceremonies including the signing for the “Sci Tech Empowerment Think-Tank 50 Experts Platform” and the launch of the final round for the “Music Innovation Plus” track of the 2026 Creative Shanghai Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. A new-term council, board of supervisors and leadership team were also elected during the assembly.
Wang Yayuan, President of Shanghai Municipal Cultural and Creative Industry Promotion Association; Wu Qiang, Member of the Standing Committee of Hongkou District Party Committee and Director of the Publicity Department; Huang Jianfu, Level-2 Inspector of the Publicity Department of CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and Full-time Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Cultural and Creative Industry Development Office, attended the event. More than 220 enterprise representatives took part.
Founded in 2018, Hongkou CCIPA is Shanghai’s first district-level industry association of its kind. The roll-out of the “C+MICE” service system and the establishment of four specialised committees mark a structural overhaul of its service framework and a qualitative leap in service capabilities, setting a new benchmark for cultural-creative associations across the city. The municipal-level association will scale up support in policy research, resource introduction, platform synergy and joint event organisation to facilitate city-wide replication of Hongkou’s best practices.
Since the 13th Five-Year Plan period, Hongkou has taken culture as its core driver and advanced in-depth integration of cultural, sports and entertainment sectors. Related industries have kept iterating and expanding, with optimised industrial structures and steadily rising economic contributions. Hongkou pioneered the establishment of a district-level leading group for cultural-creative industries, the cultural-creative industry promotion association and a cultural creative finance service platform for systematic industrial planning. Operating revenue of district-above-scale cultural, sports and entertainment enterprises surged from RMB 331 million at the early stage of the 13th Five-Year Plan to RMB 5.048 billion in 2025. Such leap forward growth has turned the sector into a key engine for regional economic transformation and upgrading.
Participants heard and reviewed the Work Report of the Second Council delivered by the outgoing president, the Work Report of the Second Board of Supervisors presented by the chief supervisor, as well as the financial report. The revised draft of the association’s Articles of Association was approved by vote. A new leadership team was elected. Qiang Ying, expert from a national high end think tank and former full time deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Cultural and Creative Industry Development Office, was elected the new president and delivered an inaugural address.
Launch of “C+MICE” Service System and Four Specialised Committees
A promotional video screened at the conference showcased the “C+MICE” service system and planned innovative offerings for 2026. Built around Culture, the “C+MICE” framework links Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Events. Centred on integrated development of culture, business travel, sports and exhibitions, it connects hospitality, catering, conventions & exhibitions, culture-entertainment, tourism, advertising, transportation, technology and other service sectors. It delivers end to end industrial support for member enterprises, fosters a more complete ecosystem for industrial advancement, and improves industrial conversion and resource allocation capacity.
The four specialised committees were officially inaugurated on site. An appointment ceremony was held for advisors to the Cultural-Creative Finance Special Committee, with appointment letters awarded to five newly-engaged advisors. Representatives from the Cultural-Creative Finance Special Committee and the Culture-Technology Integration Special Committee gave speeches, touching on building a full-life cycle, whole-financing-chain cultural-creative finance service system and advancing the matchmaking and implementation of culture tech projects.
Focus areas for the four committees cover digital cultural creativity, AI content creation, digital technologies, cultural-creative IP development, AI-generated comic dramas and short-form digital productions. They will regularly curate high-quality projects, match them with capital and spatial resources, and support local implementation of culture-tech initiatives in Hongkou. The committees aim to transform cultural assets into interactive, value-generating digital-operation models and accelerate the commercialisation of culture-tech projects.
Signing of Key Projects; Finals of “Music Innovation Plus” Track Kick off
A signing ceremony took place for the C+MICE “City Illumination Initiative” Sci-Tech Empowerment Think -Tank 50 Experts Platform and Hongkou CCIPA. The platform will connect Hongkou’s cultural-creative enterprises with think-tank and industrial resources to deepen integration between cultural-creative industries and scientific-technological innovation.
The conference also reviewed achievements from the preliminary and semi-final rounds of the “Music Innovation Plus” track under the 2026 Creative Shanghai Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, before officially opening the city wide final round. Co-hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Cultural and Creative Industry Development Office and Shanghai Municipal Cultural and Creative Industry Promotion Association, undertaken by Hongkou CCIPA, and executed by See Music and Ruo an Culture, this track focuses on cross-border integration between music and diverse business formats. It received 419 entries in the preliminary round, ranking first among all competition tracks city-wide.