China's emerging cultural businesses outpace overall sector growth

BEIJING, July 30 (Xinhua) -- China's new cultural business formats recorded faster growth than the broader cultural sector in the first half of 2026, highlighting the increasing role of emerging business models in driving the industry's development.

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday, the country's 82,000 major cultural enterprises generated a combined operating revenue of 7.2 trillion yuan (about 1.06 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first six months of the year, up 4.6 percent year on year.

Among them, 16 industry subcategories featuring new cultural business formats posted operating revenue of 3.52 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.6 percent from a year earlier, outpacing the overall growth rate of major cultural enterprises by 5 percentage points.

By industry, cultural service enterprises remained the main growth driver, with operating revenue rising 8.1 percent year on year to 4.32 trillion yuan. Revenue from cultural manufacturing edged down 0.4 percent to 1.79 trillion yuan, while cultural wholesale and retail businesses slipped 0.1 percent to 1.09 trillion yuan.

Among major sectors, news and information services and creative design services each posted revenue growth of 9.2 percent year on year. Cultural investment and operation registered the fastest growth at 10 percent, while content creation and production expanded by 4.4 percent.

The NBS data also showed that major cultural enterprises posted total profits of 574.7 billion yuan in the first half, down 7.5 percent from the same period last year.

The latest figures underscore the resilience of China's cultural industry, with emerging business formats continuing to outperform the broader market amid the country's ongoing efforts to foster new growth drivers and promote high-quality development of the cultural sector. ■