The first Yunnan Cultural Industries Expo closed at the Kunming International Convention and Exhibition Center on Aug 14. Nine countries and more than 10 Chinese provinces attended the expo. It attracted 150,000 visitors and saw sales totaling 1.2 billion yuan ($196 million), 330 million yuan of which was created by the jade carving auction.

All the culture industries offices in the 16 cities and autonomous prefectures in Yunnan sent representative groups. The sale of traditional handicrafts, such as purple pottery from Jianshui, silver from Heqing and jewelry, went very well. Some items, like bamboo weavings, Yunnan-style kites, root carvings and silver-inlaid black copper, were sold out and received big orders.

Many folk arts and crafts producers saw a great potential market at the expo. In the silver-inlaid black copper booth, Jin Yongcai was not only busy receiving customers, but also discussing business with dealers from Sichuan and Shandong. "I sold pieces worth a total of 130,000 yuan these days. My marketing strategy needs to change. In the past, sales were not good mainly because the event was largely unknown to the people. As I hosted exhibits elsewhere over the past three years, sales have increased. I will go to Geneva to promote this August," he said.

Creativity is another highlight. Through the creative idea collection, the organizing commission received 203 creative requests and over 600 creative submissions. The creative activities serve as a bridge to lead creators directly to the market.

"Kunming is displaying its best cultural products at this expo. Besides traditional ethnic and folk arts, there are a number of emerging cultural industries," said Li Zhanliang, division head of the publicity department of the Kunming cultural industries office. "There is a substantial rise in both on-the-spot transaction volume and number of orders compared with the previous expo. Five or six districts and counties in Kunming have received orders worth over 1 million yuan."

Emerging cultural industries such as creative offices, container lofts and a perfume museum that exploits the aromatic plant resources in Yunnan have received much attention. A company that produces a real estate sale app has signed 800,000-yuan orders with clients.

Animation, another pillar industry in Yunnan, is popular amongst teenagers at the expo. Nearly 1,000 teenagers took part in the cosplay costume competition at the expo. The industry is growing rapidly. Several animation companies like Magical Media Limited and Guuloo Technology Co have created many 3D cartoons featuring Yunnan culture. But Wang Qiyun, general manager from a cultural creative company, said that many copyrights for animation and peripheral products sold at the expo are from Japan or the West, so local companies still need to find their own competitive advanta