Editor's note: The creative economy has become an important driving force for global economic growth. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the creative economy accounts for 6.8% of the global economic value added, with particularly outstanding performance in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and South Korea. At the same time, developing countries represented by China are actively exploring the international creative economy market, but still face challenges in creative service statistics, policy support, and data capabilities.

Recently, Li Jiashan, Dean of the International Strategy Research Institute for Cultural Development at Beijing International Studies University, released a new work titled "New Wave of Creative Economy: Global Development and China's Practice". The author was invited to participate in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's Multi Year Expert Meeting on Trade, Services and Development, and dedicated a chapter in the book to explore the achievements, challenges and prospects of China's creative economy going global. It is believed that this will be beneficial for many creative economy enterprises going global to avoid risks and seek opportunities.

In recent years, the development momentum of cross-border trade in China's creative industry has been strong, and the scale continues to expand. The directory of "National Key Cultural Export Enterprises" released in 2007 includes 142 enterprises, which have grown to 404 by 2025, with an average annual growth rate of 12.1%. During the same period, China's cultural trade achieved a dual improvement in both scale and efficiency. In 2007, the total import and export volume of cultural trade was only 16.64 billion US dollars; By 2024, it has risen to 1.4 trillion yuan (approximately 194.328 billion US dollars), an increase of more than ten times. From a global perspective, between 2007 and 2024, the average annual growth rate of China's cultural trade was 12.7%, far exceeding the international average level. By 2024, China's total cultural trade will account for 19.4% of the global cultural trade.

With the continuous enhancement of the overall strength of cultural enterprises and the gradual optimization of the market operation subject structure, digital cultural trade enterprises have grown particularly rapidly. The emerging cultural industries represented by digital publishing, immersive entertainment, and online audio-visual have rapidly emerged as the core engines driving growth, demonstrating strong innovation vitality and market adaptability.

Among the 142 key cultural export enterprises recognized in 2007, only 15 were related to digital culture, accounting for about 10.6%, mainly concentrated in the fields of digital publishing, film and television, and gaming; Among the 404 key enterprises in 2025, 144 digital cultural and technological enterprises belong to the fields of online gaming, data technology, etc., accounting for 35.6%, reflecting the deep empowerment of digital technology in cultural trade.

Under the dual promotion of deepening globalization and digital technology innovation, China's creative industry is accelerating its integration into the world economic system, and cross-border investment has become a key path to achieve international development. Through foreign direct investment (FDI), regional free trade agreements, and other means, China's creative industry has not only expanded its international market, but also promoted the optimal allocation of global cultural resources.

Currently, cross-border investment in China's creative industry is mainly focused on the integration of digital content industry and cultural technology. Anime, online literature, digital film and television have become investment hotspots. With the development of technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence, the integration of culture and technology is increasingly deepening.

The creative industry in China is rapidly developing in the process of globalization, but it also faces a series of regulatory barriers, mainly concentrated in three aspects: digital trade restrictions, cultural cognitive differences, and international rule conflicts. It is urgent to formulate targeted solutions.

On the one hand, some countries have limitations on cross-border data flow and inconsistent technical standards due to differences in digital infrastructure, which restricts the dissemination efficiency of digital cultural and creative products; Meanwhile, cultural cognitive differences and insufficient localization adaptation also pose challenges to the acceptance of Chinese creative content when entering the local market.

On the other hand, the controversy over "cultural exceptionalism" within the framework of the World Trade Organization is becoming increasingly prominent. Countries represented by France advocate treating cultural products differently from ordinary goods, protecting local cultural industries through quota systems and requiring streaming platforms to purchase local content; The United States, on the other hand, adheres to the principle of free trade in digital cultural products, believing that such restrictions constitute trade barriers. This debate reflects the value balance between "cultural diversity protection" and "market openness" in global cultural trade, and also poses a new challenge for international cooperation in China's creative industry - how to break through barriers through technological adaptation, content co-creation, and other means while respecting the cultural sovereignty of various countries; At the same time, issuing a voice that balances cultural dissemination and trade fairness in the construction of international rules will become an important direction for future international cooperation and coordinated development of the creative industry.

Chinese cultural enterprises need to establish a sound risk prevention and control system. Big data technology can be used to collect multidimensional information such as politics, economy, and culture of the target country, and to monitor and analyze the investment environment in real time. By constructing a risk assessment model, potential risks can be predicted and timely warnings can be issued. For example, a cultural enterprise has collaborated with a professional risk assessment agency to develop a risk warning system for cross-border investment in the cultural industry. The system can quantitatively analyze indicators such as policy changes and social stability in the target country. Once the indicators reach the set threshold, the system will automatically issue a warning to remind enterprises to take corresponding measures.

Cultural trade is a two-way interactive process, and its high-quality development requires coordination between exports and imports. While actively promoting the "going global" of excellent Chinese culture, we also introduce high-quality cultural products and services from abroad to achieve cultural exchange and mutual learning between China and foreign countries.

From the blueprint of top-level design, to the exploration of cultural bonded zones and the solid construction of national cultural export bases, to the talent cultivation of interdisciplinary cultural trade, China's cultural trade has made significant progress. The three together form a powerful collaborative force, driving Chinese culture from "going out" to "going in", and ultimately achieving deep level development of "integration".