BEIJING (http://en.unesco.

org/creative-cities/beijing)
About the Creative City:
A historic ancient capital and political center of China, Beijing, with its history reaching back
over 3,000 years, is recognized today as the countrys cultural center. Beijing has 47 public
libraries, including the National Library of China, more than 170 museums and more than
300 theatres, including the National Centre for the Performing Arts, giving more than 12,000
performances every year.
With 119 design colleges and more than 30,000 students, Beijing is known for its vibrant
design sector. One of Beijings pillar industries, the design sector employs nearly 250,000
people and has a total value estimated at over 160 billion RMB.Beijing holds the
internationally recognized Beijing Design Week, the China Red Star Design Award, Beijing
Fashion Week, the Beijing International Film Festival, the Beijing International Cultural &
Creative Industry Expo and the Beijing Science and Technology Exposition.
Beijing has more than 30 Creative Cluster Areas and provides approximately 270 design and
creativity workshops to enhance womens employment. Additionally in 2012, the city of
Beijing and the University of Nairobi joined forces to build the Beijing Nairobi Innovation
& Design Research Center. Beijing is also proud to be home to some of the worlds most
celebrated architectural design, such as the National Centre for the Performing Arts designed
by French architect Paul Andreu, the Galaxy SOHO designed by Zaha Hadid, and Terminal 3
of
Beijing
Capital
Airport
designed
by
Norman
Foster.
Added Value:
As a Creative City of Design, Beijing envisages:

undertaking research pertaining to the creative economy and its various dimensions,
bearing in mind their relevance for sustainable development;

fostering capacity-building relating to the creative economy and establishing data

platform service for the Network; and

identifying and promoting opportunities for women and youth to be involved in the
creative economy, especially in design.

Interview Beijing (http://en.unesco.org/creativecities/content/interview-beijing)

Beijing, City of Design

Since Beijing was designated as the City of Design in 2012, it has learnt from
the experiences of various national and regional governments, shared ideas on
the development of the design industry and had discussions with foreign

institutions and scholars on how to promote city development via design through
participating in the network member meetings and activities. The channel for
collaboration between Beijing Municipal Government, UNESCO and other
members of the Network has also been established.

Beijing won support from the central government when applying for the City of
Design, and we believe that the central government will continue to render full
support to the efforts of building the City of Design. The Beijing City of Design
Coordination and Promotion Commission was established, with Beijing Mayor
Wang Anshun as its Director. The Committee is comprised of 15 government
agencies, and Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, as the
Committee Office, is responsible for the coordination work. Since 2010, Beijing
Municipal Government has issued more than 50 policies to promote the
development of the design industry, and produced the Beijing City of Design
Development Plan (2012-2020).

In addition, the annual government funds budget has been approved by Beijing
Municipal People's Congress. Beijing has been deeply involved in the Creative
Cities Network projects, promoted the cooperation in design between China and
Africa, and established the Beijing-Nairobi Innovation & Design Research Center.
Through holding events such as the China Red Star Design Award and Beijing
Design Week, it has strengthened the design cooperation with domestic and
international cities. Beijing will hold the Creative Cities Beijing Summit for the
first time in 2013, and is contacting UNESCO to discuss the possibility of holding
the Design Beijing: Old and New design exhibition at the UNESCO headquarters
in Paris.

Beijing strives to enhance the role of science and technology in the design
industry, and improve the capacity of its citizens in creating a good ecological
environment, improving the quality of life and promoting sustainable
development of the city through the power of design. The 100,000m2 City of
Design building has been put into use. Chinas first design market has been
opened, and its first 3D printing experience pavilion has been established. More
than 400 activities have been held in over 30 creative clusters including 798 Art
Zone and DRC industrial design base. The 9th China International Garden Expo,
to be launched on 18 May 2013 will showcase a number of garden design
achievements at home and abroad, reflecting the role of design in ecological
civilization.

Culture is the source of creativity. The Network serves as a platform for cross-city
cooperation. The creative network provides cities with development
opportunities in the design industry, highlights the resources of the cities and
enhances their visibility on the world stage. We believe that Beijing will
contribute to the Network with its rich technology and design resource, abundant
historical resource and diversified cultural resource.

Share the development opportunities. Create a better future.

(Yan Aoshuang, 2013)

Director, Beijing City of Design Coordination and Promotion Commission Office

Director, Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission