5th Cultural and Creative Industry Forum between China and Central and Eastern Europe - Digital technologies promoting creative industry and cultural trade.

 

The 5th Forum of Cultural and Creative Industry between China and Central and Eastern Europe - Digital technologies promoting creative industries and cultural trade" took place at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE), Sofia, Bulgaria. The event is organized by the Institute of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer "Prof. Dr. Borislav Borisov" (iiptt) at UNWE together with Beijing International Studies University, the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Bulgaria and Crea Tech Bulgaria.

The previous 4 forums were held in Belgrade (Serbia, 2016), Beijing (China, 2017), Lodz and Katowice (Poland, 2018) and Budapest (Hungary, 2019)

Before the event, the Rector of UNWE held a meeting in the "Academic" hall, with the Chinese delegation and other participants from the CEE countries, who arrived to participate in the event, and with representatives of state institutions and embassies, participants in the forum. On behalf of the UNWE, the meeting was attended by Prof. Dr. Yanko Hristozov, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, Prof. Dr. Maria Vodenicharova, Vice-Rector for Research, Prof. Dr. Nikolay Krushkov, Head of Department of "Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer", Dr. Ivan Nachev Acting director of the Institute of IIPTT. During the meeting, the rector presented UNWE, stressing that it is the largest and most authoritative business university in Bulgaria. The guests expressed gratitude for the warm welcome.

 

  

 

The Rector of UNSS, Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov, officially opened the Forum in the Large Conference Hall and emphasized that the University has already established very good and effective partnership with other universities from the CEE countries, as well as with Chinese educational institutions and universities and joint educational programs. The University has a Management Center for the Dual Bachelor's Program in Economics with Tianjin Foreign Studies University (TFSU). There is also a double master's program in International Business and Management taught in English with Zhaotong University in China.

 

 

During the opening of the forum there were representatives of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China, the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Bulgaria, Diana Dimitrova, executive director of the National Culture Fund, Milen Mitev, director general of the Bulgarian National Radio, representatives of China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) – universities, non-governmental organizations and business companies related to the cultural and creative industries.

On behalf of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, his Secretary for Culture, Education and Tourism Ilin Dimitrov addressed the participants with a congratulatory address. "Dear Prof. Dimitrov, please accept my congratulations on the occasion of the grand opening of the Fifth Forum of Cultural and Creative Industry between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Through you, let them reach all the scientists, teachers and students who, with joint efforts, hard work, knowledge and talent, deepen the interaction of the scientific and industrial sectors at the world level. Over the years, UNWE has established itself as a leader among higher education institutions in Eastern Europe, educating students and conducting research in the field of economic and social sciences. The university has not only created traditions, but in relations with educational institutions in the People's Republic of China are its trademark."

 

 

A congratulatory address from the Minister of Culture Nayden Todorov to those present was addressed by the Director of the Copyright and Related Rights Department, Mehti Melikov. "The forum's theme of digital technologies promoting the cultural and creative industries covers a spectrum of opportunities and challenges. In this regard, we would like to point out a few topics that we think would be useful to discuss. These are digitization of creative processes and distribution platforms, cultural trade and territorial environment, the role of digital technologies in the globalization of cultural trade and reaching new markets, protection of intellectual property in the electronic environment, interactive and multimedia arts, as well as the new requirements for education and professional skills in the cultural industries, online learning opportunities in the creative industries, developing new professions and skills needed to work in the digital and cultural economy'.

Ana Ilic, General Director of the Serbian National Platform for CCI and Lozionica, a new Creative Innovation Center for Creative Industries, emphasized that there are great opportunities to further strengthen the partnership in the field of cultural and creative industries, arts and innovation, which certainly can contribute significantly to the strengthening of mutual economic cooperation.

"Cultural cooperation is an important part of our relations with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and we will continue to work to deepen our partnership in this area," said H.E. Ms. Jiang Yu, Ambassador, Special Representative for China-CEE Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and Special Representative of the Government for the 5th Cultural and Creative Industries Forum.

"As an ambassador, I am happy about the opportunity for this forum to open up a field for new collaborations," emphasized H.E. Prof. Dr. Zelko Jovic, Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to Bulgaria.

The Director of the Institute of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer at the UNWE, Dr. Ivan Nachev, thanked the partners for their support in organizing the event and emphasized that he hopes the reports and discussions at the forum will contribute to the development of cooperation in the field of cultural and creative industries. digitalization of creative processes, implementation of innovations and finding solutions for the protection of intellectual property in an electronic environment.

Within the framework of the event, a memorandum was signed between UNWE and Beijing International Studies University (BISU). The rector of UNWE Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov and Prof. Li Jiashan, dean of BISU's National Institute for Cultural Development signed the document.

 

 

A memorandum was also signed between China Institute of Culture Trade Research (CICTR) and the Serbian national CCI platform (Center for Creativity and Innovation) and Lozionica LLC Belgrade, signed by Prof. Li Jiashan, expert and general secretary of CICTR and Ana Ilic, general director of Serbia Creates national platform for CCI and Lozionica.

As part of the initiatives during the event, an exhibition of Bulgarian and Chinese companies, manufacturers and innovators in the creative and cultural industries was held.

 

 

During the forum, on June 26 and 27, representatives of academia and business met and exchanged experiences, presented and discussed topics related to cultural and creative industries - innovation and development prospects, management of intellectual property rights, digital transformation, contemporary challenges facing industries, opportunities for cooperation between CEE countries and China.

They were the following panels as part of the program: 1. The update of the application scenario of digital technology and artificial intelligence in the creative industries, 2. The cooperation between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the digital culture market, 3. The application of design concepts in the digital era in real life. In the first 3 keynote lectures, Prof. Li Jiashan from Beijing International Studies University (BISU) presented cultural trade and its unique role in promoting exchange and mutual learning between civilizations, between China and CEE countries. The lecture by Prof. Dr. Maria Markova from UNWE focused on intellectual property rights as a basis for economic and cultural cooperation between CEE countries and China, and Genoveva Hristova-Murray, Managing Director, Ligna Group and Chairman of CreaTech Bulgaria spoke about Creative cooperation - the promotion of business synergy between China and CEE countries.

Other presentations in the program touching on current issues and innovative solutions were: In the first panel: The update of the scenario for the application of digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) in the creative industries - Ivana Zecevic Senior Adviser on International Relations ofthe Serbian national CCI platform– Lozionica; Success factors and their typological classification for evaluation of open educational resources (ORE), Prof. Dr. Tanya Todorova, UNWE, UNIBIT; Practice of "Technology + Culture" in China's largest science park, Xun Fei, CEO of ZGC Heidelberg Innovation Center; Artificial intelligence in administrative responsibility, Dr. Stefan Radev, UNWE; Space Audio System and Cultural Creativity, Jiang Liming, Technical Director of Shanghai Mingyue Audio-Visual Technology Co.; Cultural diplomacy - possibilities and perspectives in the digital world, Snezhana Iovena - Dimitrova, director of the State Cultural Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria; New Business Format and Characteristics of Tourism in the Context of Digital Economy, Li Weifeng Co-Founder of Yunnan Shangtu Travel Co., Ltd.; Creative industries and interdisciplinary challenge, Maria Sarap, Director General of the Directorate for the Development of Creativity, Industries and Capital Investments in Culture at the Ministry of Culture and Media of Montenegro;

Second panel: The Alliance of Central and Eastern Europe for common and equal development of the creative industries - a way for rapid regional development, Kiril Gyozev Chairman of UMPAKI - Union of Macedonian professional associations in the creative industries; Digital Technology and Cultural Heritage Intellectual Property Development, Cheng Kun, CEO of Culture Pieces (Beijing) Cultural Development Co., Ltd; Distribution of Bulgarian cinema and streaming platforms, Dr. Ivan Nachev, director of IIPTT, UNWE; From cultural treasure relics to modern intellectual property, Qiao Qiao Founder of Xi'an Qiaohe Animation; Universal design and digital technologies in education - a Bulgarian perspective, Ofelia Kaneva, associate professor of economics, doctor of educational management, sociologist and manager; Children's book design cooperation between China and CEE countries, Sun Zhaozhi Editor-in-Chief of children's book brand Lelequ, Ronshin Group;

Third panel: Creativity - Education - Industry, Prof. Nikola Knezevic, Faculty of Applied Arts, Belgrade; The Origin and Deep Connotation of Chinese Characters, Calligrapher Guo Chunxing, Founder of Caogentang Cultural Studio; Lofree 2m2 design concept and modern life, Yinhongxia Co-founder of Shenzhen Lofree Culture Co., Ltd.; Innovations in Saffron production, Antonio Bonev, Chairman of the Association of Saffron Producers in Bulgaria.

Many more topics related tocultural and creative industries,digital technologies promoting creative industries and cultural trade were put forward and discussed in search of solutions for the protection of intellectual property rights against the background of the dynamics of the development of the digital world and the Internet space. A large part of the attendees joined the discussions and all gave a high assessment of the held forum and the opportunity to raise and present current issues, to seek answers and solutions and opportunities for cultural exchange.

The first day of the forum ended with a triumphant and exciting concert of Chinese and Bulgarian artists,featuringThe National School of Folk Dances, with artistic director Mr. Asen Pavlov, folk songs performed by Iva Koteva, a student at the National Academy of Music "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov" and the Chinese Ensemble In Tsetsn, a musical ethnic ensemble based in Beijing whose members are from Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Their leader is Prof. Zhu Zhujun, multiple winner of prestigious arts awards, Artistic Director and Chairman of the Arts Committee at Sichuan University of Culture and Arts.

 

 

  

Youth Forum of the Fifth Forum of Cultural and Creative Industries

between China and Central and Eastern Europe

 

On June 27, at 9:00 a.m., a Youth Forum was held as part of"5th Cultural and Creative Industries Forum between China and Central and Eastern Europe - Digital technologies promoting creative industries and cultural trade".The topics were related to innovation, the role of intellectual property rights in modern life, artificial intelligence and young people, new spaces for international cultural exchangeat which young representatives of the scientific and business circles presented their developments, innovative solutions and inventions contributing to the development of technologies, the improvement of the way of life in the digital era of the cultural and creative industries.

 

 

Among the topics presented were: Improving copyright protection online: using artificial intelligence to monitor,PhD student Bilyana Dimitrova, UNWE; Copyright trade promotes the development of the animation culture industry, Zhang Bowei, a research candidate at the China Institute of Trade in Services; Art and Health, about the influence of art on the mental health and development of the young generation, Borche Nikolovski - Communications Consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO), Republic of North Macedonia; A Study of Innovative Practices and Trends in the Development of Tourism Trade between China and CEE Countries, Wang Lijun Research Assistant at the National Institute of Cultural Development, Beijing International Studies University (BISU); Video Games - A New Space for International Cultural Exchange, Wang Zimin, Candidate Researcher at the China Institute of Cultural Trade Research, The Transformation to Industrialization and Marketization of China's Multi-Ethnic Cultural Resources, Yang Zongxuan Candidate Researcher at the National Institute of Cultural Development; Cultural influences in commercial design practices - Elena Mustakova, Studio Moustache,presentedunique stylized creative creations in which the power of design evokes joy, delight and pleasant surprise, beyond traditional design norms – for the mission to cultivate and create a revolution in design; The Empowerment of Cultural Branding in China's Traditional Cultural Industry, Qin Yuqiu, Research Candidate at the China Institute of Trade in Services;Nikolay Ivanov presented the mission of Geek Cultural and an idea for uniting them through a franchise; The visual image of Bulgarian art before the world, Dr. Nadezhda Dzhakova, National Art Gallery - Sofia Arsenal - Museum of Contemporary Art; Bulgarian folklore and its projection of modern life, developed by Stamen Kanev, Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and others.

The afternoon part of the Forum continued in Crea tech Bulgaria, where the emphasis was placed on a meeting and conversation mainly between the representatives of the business environmentfor the purpose of getting to know each other, exchange of experienceand exchange betweenthe cultural and creative industries.

 

 

Prof. Li Jiashan, Beijing International Studies University, Executive Dean of the National Institute for Cultural Development, Expert and chief secretary of the Research Center for International Cultural Cooperation and Cultural Trade, main organizer and head of the foreign delegation, at the closing of the forum shared that the forum was successful, respectful and at a very high level. A number of important topics on intercultural exchange and the development of the creative and cultural industries, especially today in the digital space, were raised and discussed. It is a step for international cooperation in the field of science between academia and a good base for cultural exchange and trade between cultural and creative industries.

  

 

During the Forum on both days, a large part of the attendees expressed an active position on the discussed topics. All participants highly appreciated the exceptional usefulness and relevance of the topics and questions raised with a proposal for continued cooperation, initiation of new meetings and discussions on the issues of intellectual property and the protection of IP rights, to unite the efforts of the academic community, business and institutions for a successful and greater collaboration between cultural and creative industries based on digital technologies promoting creative industries and cultural trade.