Shanxi Province ranked first ahead of Beijing and Tianjin on a national cultural consumer satisfaction index, released for the first time on Nov 9 during the 8th China Beijing International Culture and Creative Industry Expo. The province scored 96.2 points on the new Cultural Consumer Satisfaction Index, which was announced by Renmin University and Cultural Industry Department of China’s Ministry of Culture as part of their China Culture Industry Development Index and Culture Consumer Index (CCI) for 2013.

In spite of the province's less favorable location in the interior of China, the local Party and government have made consistent efforts to boost culture business and improve the environments for developing cultural industry. In the last three years, the province has offered preferential policies and allocated millions of yuan in funds for cultural projects.

To expand market opportunities and encourage international exchanges, the province has organized its enterprises into government-led delegations to take part in major international exhibitions, such as the China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair, China (Beijing) International Cultural Industries Fair, and China (Hainan) National Book Expo. This year more than 100 Shanxi enterprises have participated in these annual cultural fairs. They have signed a contract amount of over 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in total in 2013, twice the figure for 2012.

At the ceremony for the announcement of this year's index figures, Professor Jiang Lin of Renmin University’s Business School told a press conference that the new consumer index measures the development of culture consumption in five aspects, including the influence of environment and levels of satisfaction. It shows not only the specific patterns of consumer spending in different provinces and municipalities, also the general condition of the whole country and the regional differences in consumer structure, preferences, and other factors of influence.

According to a press release at the ceremony, China's annual potential of cultural expenditure is estimated at 4.7 trillion yuan, accounting for 30 percent of the country’s total consumer spending, but at present this country’s actual culture spending is only 1.03 trillion yuan or 6.6 percent of the overall consumer spending. There is a huge gap of about 3.66 trillion yuan in potential for further development.

Edited by Roger Bradshaw