Thought on Building a New Cultural Landmark of Beijing
Time：2021-02-26
The Fifth Plenary Session of the Nineteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China attaches great importance to cultural development. It is clearly stated: “Boost and develop cultural undertakings and cultural industries, and enhance the country’s soft power.” To implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the Nineteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and have state-owned cultural enterprises play their role in value guidance and demonstration in building of the national cultural center, these are undoubtedly the central task of state-owned publishing enterprises at present and in the future. Beijing Publishing Group (“BPG”), as a key cultural enterprise located in the functional core area of the capital, is also the only comprehensive publishing organization under Beijing Municipality. In order to better serve the overall construction of the national cultural center and implement the requirement of the Party Committee of Beijing Municipality on BPG’s transformation and development in a scientific way, the Party Committee of BPG put forward that it will position itself in accordance with the capital and industry benchmarks. While developing the core business of publishing, it will focus on promoting the operation of core assets and cultivating new growth points of “publishing+” and enhance the brand influence and coverage of BPG. To be specific, it will, relying on the construction of the publishing culture industry park, integrate related resources, aggregate industrial elements, optimize the development ecology and strive to create a new cultural landmark and new business card of Beijing.
Building a new cultural landmark is the necessary requirement to better serve the construction of the national cultural center of Beijing.Cultural landmarks are the carriers of urban culture and urban spirit and shape urban culture at the same time. Speaking of major cities in the world, people often think of representative cultural landmarks, such as the Louvre in Paris, the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, the Digital Media City of Seoul, etc. Domestically, the Town God’s Temple in Shanghai, the Thatched Cottage in Chengdu (the former residence of the poet Du Fu in the Tang Dynasty), the Qinhuai River in Nanjing, and the Forbidden City, National Stadium (the Bird Nest), National Swimming Center (the Water Cube), Liulichang (the Glass Street), and 798 Art District in Beijing are all distinctive image symbols renowned in the world. These urban cultural landmarks are either of deep historical root or embody the contemporary spirit. Wandering in these places, one receives cultural nutrition and spiritual comfort. Building a cultural city then people living in it will be cultivated. The most direct link between people and cities are cultural landmarks, through which people get identified with their cities and receive emotional resonance. With the vigorous development of the cultural industry today, cultural landmarks, as an important space for urban culture, should not only be a cultural business card, but also play a radiative leading role in the development of the cultural industry. In other words, cultural landmarks should have multiple functions of cultural symbols, cultural inheritance, cultural gathering, cultural consumption and so on.
Cultural landmarks are natural products of the cultural industry that reaches a certain stage and level. From the production side, cultural accumulation requires a materialized way of presentation; from the operational side, cultural management requires brand benefits and sustainable liquidity; from the consumption side, cultural consumption and leisure activities require first-hand experience and tangible carriers. Some experts believe that, to a certain extent, the development of cultural landmarks directly reflects the development of urban culture. The operational capability in cultural landmarks reflects the operating efficiency and brand value of culture, and the popularity of cultural landmarks represents the power and influence of a city’s spirit. As China’s cultural center, the “grand prospect” of the capital’s cultural prosperity requires a matching “grand look” of cultural landmarks. We should implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important remarks on cultural development, inherit and develop the time-honored culture of the ancient capital, the rich and profound revolutionary culture, the specific and distinctive culture of Beijing, and the culture of booming innovation. Now it is the proper occasion to build cultural landmarks.
Building a new cultural landmark is a realistic choice to promote the transformation and development of Beijing Publishing Group.
Today, the world is undergoing major changes unprecedented in a century. Under the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic and the new technology revolution, profound changes have taken place in terms of the economic foundation, institutional environment and social conditions on which the publishing industry depends for survival and development. Facing the continuous decline in the sales of print books and the substantial reduction in the reading market share, the Party Committee of BPG proposed, in joint efforts with Xicheng District, to build a cultural industry park with distinctive publishing features, strong cultural atmosphere and complete supporting functions based on BPG’s headquarters buildings, provide professional services, branded operations and industrialized operations, and integrate the upstream and downstream resources of the cultural industry chain and surrounding high-quality enterprises. In terms of operation, BPG will gradually proceed from the Stage 1.0 relying on rental income to the Stage 2.0 featuring “industry + enterprise + activities”, and then to the Stage 3.0 featuring “brand + investment + operation” to create a new cultural landmark which covers high-quality book production, high-end cultural communication and mass cultural consumption, so as to realize a leap from a traditional publishing company to a comprehensive cultural group.
Beijing Publishing Group has sufficient favorable conditions to build a new cultural landmark. In terms of policy environment, the Party Committee and People’s Government of Beijing Municipality attach great importance to the building of cultural landmarks. In The Medium and Long-term Plan of Beijing Municipality to Promote the Construction of the National Cultural Center (2019-2035), it is proposed to accelerate the cultivation and construction of emerging commercial districts, implant high-quality culture facilities, cultural landscapes, cultural projects and cultural operations, encourage renowned international brands and original proprietary brands to debut in Beijing, build a new cultural and commercial landmark with global reputation, and provide a policy basis for Beijing Publishing Group to implement its cultural park planning and achieve high-quality development. Besides, BPG itself has sufficient conditions of geographical advantage, brand advantage and resource advantage to build a new cultural landmark.
The geographical advantages provide unique hardware conditions for building a cultural landmark. Located in the core area of Xicheng District, Beijing Publishing Group is close to the North Third Ring Road and is adjacent to the Central Axis of Beijing. To its south are the Drum Tower, southern Luoguxiang Alley and the Beihai Park, to the north are the Capital City Wall Relics of the Yuan Dynasty, the National Stadium (Bird Nest), and the National Swimming Center (Water Cube). BPG has a commercial area of more than 40,000 square meters with seven buildings of complete facilities, which will provide enough space to cultivate a small ecological environment for the publishing culture industry park. This place boasts favorable geological position, rich historical and cultural resources and great popularity. As long as there are clear target positioning, well-received brands, complete supporting facilities and upstream and downstream cultural enterprises, we are confident to build the area into a cultural highland at the intersection of the Second Ring Road and the cultural exploration route along the Central Axis of Beijing.
Outstanding brand advantages have formed hard-core cultural soft power. Beijing Publication Group has abundant brand resources. October, a literature periodical established in 1978, ranks among the “Four Famous Literature Periodicals”. As the first major literature periodical created in the new era, October has a pivotal position in the literary circles, its circulation and influence always top the list among domestic literature journals. Its sub-brand, October Youth Literature (Junior October) has risen with great influence in recent years. With elegant and profound literary appeal, it has become a new height for children’s literature works. Parenting Science, a journal founded in 1980, is the only parenting magazine in China, and it has won the National Journal Award for three consecutive years. Now it has formed a three-dimensional parenting media structure covering magazines, parenting books, parenting science research institute, new media platforms and brand activities. The number of fans on its official account of WeChat has reached one million. In addition, the group has the well-known series of introductory academic books "Masters for the Masses". BPG has connections with many celebrities. There are distinguished experts such as Wang Meng, Li Jingze, Yan Chongnian, Yuan Xingpei and Cao Wenxuan, commissioned writers with a leading role in the literary circles such as A Lai, Ye Guangqin, Li Er, Qiu Huadong, Xu Zechen, and top academicians and experts in the science and technology and childcare field such as Han Qide and Cui Yutao. These accomplished figures provide a solid guarantee for the creation of a new cultural landmark.
Plenty of cultural activities are like an inexhaustible source of flowing water. Adhering to the principle of social benefit first, Beijing Publishing Group hosted many professional and influential cultural activities, for example, the Beijing October Literary Month that has been successfully held for 5 times, the “Popular Culture Lectures of Beijing” held for 15 consecutive years, a series of lectures of “Taste Beijing”, “Masters’ Lecture on Classics”, “Parenting Wisdom Lecture Hall” and so on. These interactive online and offline activities are of high standards, supreme quality and good reputation. These activities have enriched the spiritual and cultural life of the citizens and set the group’s social image that is dignified and generous, and has the sense of public benefit and responsibility. Once these activities are gathered and conducted in the publishing and cultural industry park, they will draw continuous attention.
BPG’s overall thinking and practice path for building a new cultural landmark
The formation mechanism of cultural landmarks at home and abroad can be roughly divided into several categories. The first category is historical areas. For example, Shanghai Shikumen and Chengdu Wide and Narrow Alleys are essentially cultural areas formed on the basis of creative transformation and innovative development of traditional culture. The second category is industrial clusters. For example, the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, Galaries Lafayette in Paris, and etc. are essentially commercial areas formed as a result of the cluster of characteristic cultural industries. The third category is brand effect. For example, the shooting scene of popular TV plays in Japan and South Korea, the work places of domestic celebrities and etc. reflect brand effect of celebrities. To build its own culture landmark, Beijing Publishing Group shall be inclusive and innovative in its development. The overall thinking is: adhering to the core positioning of culture, focusing on two key points of being “publishing-based” and “operation-first”, implementing the triple drive of the cultural park as the carrier of cultural industries, operating the brand to attract attention and accumulate popularity, and comprehensive supporting facilities to conserve the industrial ecology.
BPG should adhere to is position as a cultural entity. The cultural landmark is more than a showcase, it must focus on fresh-hand experience, interactivity and participation to meet the diverse needs of people. To strengthen the comprehensive supporting facilities, we must distinguish the main business from auxiliary businesses and understand what should be added and what should be reduced. Cultural landmarks must be based on their own cultural characteristics and adhere to cultural positioning: all work should focus on culture. Efforts should be made to establish a standardized access mechanism, and business forms, operations and comprehensive supporting facilities must have cultural features and appeal. All construction and operation must be done around “culture”, and everything else must give way to, serve and complement culture. We must ensure that minor issues do not take precedence over major issues, and avoid the tendency of pursuing grandiose projects. The management strategy should remain constant to avoid frequent changes. Only in this way can there be a cultural accumulation in the long run.
Focusing on two key points of being “publishing-based” and “operation-first”. To build cultural landmarks, we must balance cultural undertakings and cultural business. To develop the cultural business and become a leader in China’s cultural industry, we must unswervingly follow the path of marketization under the premise of giving priority to social benefits. Only cultural products that are truly recognized by the market have enduring vitality; only cultural activities that the people are willing to spend money on are really popular with them. Governmental support is necessary for cultural development, but we shall never rely on financial subsidies. If we cannot expand the market by ourselves and maintain the sustainability, our cultural landmark will be like flowers in the greenhouse unable to stand the harsh weather outside. As Beijing Publishing Group is a municipal state-owned cultural enterprise, social benefits are always our top priority. We must promote the theme of times and spread positive energy. At the same time, we must enhance our business awareness and capabilities. The current way of asset operation of our group is still relatively extensive. We lack professional talent reserves and overall operation planning. Our efforts in brand development are insufficient, and the cultural identification is low. We do not have sufficient upstream or downstream supporting industries, nor strong market appeal. In 2020, due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, the problem of extensive operation was exposed, and the vacancy rate of properties continued to rise. We must lose no time in improving ourselves to ensure the long-term smooth operation of the cultural landmark.
Implementing the triple drive of cultural park, brand operations and comprehensive supporting facilities. We should build a new pattern of cultural industry in the cultural park, which provides the leading drive. Rome was not built in a day. The projects for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, such as the Bird Nest and the Water Cube, are huge and complex with unimaginable difficulties in construction, let along the worldwide challenge of the post-games operation of the Olympic venues. However, China firmly controlled the five key points: investment, construction, engineering, safety and post-match operations. From the beginning of the global design bidding, the goal of the new Olympic landmarks was determined, with progress following step by step until final results were seen at last. The same is true for the creation of cultural landmarks. Success in cultural atmosphere and brand cultivation require years of hard work. It requires careful planning, continuous accumulation and small successes till the final big success is obtained. It is necessary to strengthen the top-level design and promote it step by step. The first step is to highlight the visible “image”. Distinct cultural feature is the prerequisite of materialization of cultural landmarks. Since 2020, BPG has been actively seeking support from the municipal and district governments, naming and numbering the buildings in a unified way, and adding the group’s logo to the buildings to enhance the group’s corporate image on the North Third Ring Road. The second step is to improve the quality of companies in the cultural park. To address the problems of the miscellaneous projects and disorderly operation in the park, we plan to introduce some industry benchmark and leading enterprises. Recently, the People’s Oriental Publishing House, a four-star hotel with a publishing theme, and the renowned Sishi Tongtang (“four-generation-under-one-roof”) Restaurant were introduced, which have effectively improved the style and grade of the park. In the next step, we will clarify the standards, raise the admittance threshold, gradually weed out enterprises with businesses irrelevant with the core functions of the park and optimize the industrial formation of the park.
Cultivating a new ecology of sound operation of the park through brand operation. The key to build a popular and profitable cultural landmark lies in brand building. To strengthen brand promotion, on one hand, the current brands of the group must be aggregated into a brand matrix; on the other hand, new brands must be continuously introduced and incubated, and build the brand of the cultural landmark through integration and mutual empowerment of brands. On this basis, we will make the brand bring economic benefits. Once a virtuous circle of brand and benefits is formed, the park will have a virtuous operating ecosystem. The ideal ecosystem should include three circles from within to the outside. The core circle is the publishing industry. Through the improvement of financial, human and other service guarantee capabilities, as well as a full range of publishing service capabilities such as book review, distribution, copyright, logistics and storage, a group of publishing institutions, studios, independent publishers, etc. are gathered. The middle circle is for reading and exchanges. By providing physical bookstores, cultural activities such as literary creation salons, art trainings, online literature forums, reading index releases as well as copyright matching meetings, readers’ meetings, book launches, calligraphy and painting exhibitions and other shows, we will attract and gather writers, artists, experts, scholars, cultural businessmen as well as elementary and middle school students, young people fond of literature and art and those who love reading. The third circle refers to supporting services. We will introduce and run restaurants, hotels, cafes and cultural and creative shops with strong cultural appeal to meet demands of citizens and tourists in shopping, leisure, sightseeing and entertainment. These three circles will form an ecosystem of “creation and publishing—reading and communication—cultural consumption—creation and publishing”. In this ecosystem, new business forms thrive, there will be more high-quality cultural products and more benefits will be generated in the industry.
Strengthening comprehensive supporting facilities to build new policy advantages in the park. To build the publishing and cultural industry park, BPG will keep respecting the city’s cultural heritage and continuing the cultural space without large-scale demolition and construction. We will mainly conduct creative transformation of the original building environment, optimize the industrial layout, implant new concepts, new models, and new business forms to enhance the cultural taste and added economic value. For a publishing park, hardware investment is not the focus, and it is the support and integration at the policy level that matter. Now we are in the stage of strategic opportunities for the construction of the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Services Sector and China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone. If the policies at national, municipal and district levels can be integrated to form a greater driving force, the construction of the park will surely be accelerated. At the national level, we will strive to build a national-level publishing park, and conduct innovative pilot projects in optimizing the business environment, allocating industry resources and increasing financial support to explore experience and practices that can be replicated and promoted. At the municipal level, we will integrate relevant industrial development policies of Beijing, including policies on creation of quality works, physical bookstores, cultural technology, cultural finance, innovation and entrepreneurship, so as to improve the vitality of the park, and guide the aggregation of industrial resources. At the district level, we will establish a coordination and promotion mechanism for park construction. In particular, full support will be given in optimizing business environment, attracting key enterprises and building key projects to integrate the park into the local economic and social development and contribute to the construction of the core cultural zone.
In the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the economic and social development of the capital will open a new chapter, and Beijing Publishing Group will enter a period of strategic opportunities. BPG will deepen the reform in systems and mechanisms and aim to build a comprehensive cultural group based on the construction of a publishing cultural industry park. The park will serve as the basis for the group to realize its goal of transformation and become a demonstration zone with complete cultural industry forms and supporting facilities, a sacred place of literature in Beijing which is popular with writers, artists and young people fond of literature and art from all regions, as well as a cultural carrier and spiritual symbol of the city that have deep relations with citizens. In the process of building Beijing the national cultural center, BPG will earnestly fulfil its missions and responsibilities as a state-owned enterprise.
(This article was first published in the first issue of Qianxian (“Frontline”) magazine in 2021, and the full text was republished on xuexi.cn. The author is the secretary of the Party Committee and president of Beijing Publishing Group.)
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