On the afternoon of September 27, 2023 during the Ninth Nishan Forum on World Civilizations, the parallel forum on “Copyright Empowering the Creative Transformation and Development of Fine Traditional Chinese Culture” was held in Nishan, Qufu City, Shandong Province. Zhang Jianchun, Vice Minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the event and delivered a keynote speech. Bai Yugang, Member of the Standing Committee and Director General of the Publicity Department of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee, and Liu Hua, Director of WIPO Office in China, also attended and addressed the event.

In his keynote speech, Zhang Jianchun pointed out that promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture through copyright empowerment is an intrinsic requirement for strengthening cultural confidence and advancing cultural inheritance and development. It is also an important means to stimulate cultural innovation and creativity and enhance China’s cultural soft power. He emphasized the need to firmly grasp the new cultural mission in the new era and accurately understand the new tasks and requirements for copyright empowerment in the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture, so as to drive high-quality development in publishing and copyright work. Zhang stressed the necessity to leverage the safeguarding and promoting role of copyright in inheriting and preserving fine traditional Chinese culture. We need to use copyright as a medium to guard the soul of culture, provide services to ensure the inheritance and development of excellent traditional culture, and give solid support for the “passing on” and “going global” of fine traditional Chinese culture. We need to give full play to the role of copyright in innovation and empowerment, and effectively stimulate the vitality of cultural innovation and creativity. Through the protection, creation, and utilization of copyright, fine traditional Chinese culture can be seamlessly integrated with the characteristics of the times and the aspirations of the people. It can also innovate through integration with revolutionary culture and the innovations of advanced socialist culture, continuously rejuvenating its vitality. Furthermore, he highlighted copyright’s function as a bridge and link between cultures. It can facilitate mutual exchanges and learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations. Through international cooperation and exchanges in copyright, it is possible to better protect the copyright resources of fine traditional Chinese culture and promote its international dissemination, thereby enhancing its international influence and appeal.

Bai Yugang, Member of the Standing Committee and Director General of the Publicity Department of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee, stated in his address that in Shandong’s practice of promoting “creative transformation and innovative development”, the Province is dedicated to preserving its historical heritage and exploring the “+ copyright + digital + IP derivative” model, making efforts to achieve multidimensional development and transformation. Shandong is committed to revitalizing rural culture by delving into folk art, folk culture, and traditional craftsmanship, effectively mining these rich cultural resources to promote their use for heritage conservation and dynamic inheritance. Shandong aims to strengthen the cultural and creative industries, turning its cultural resource advantages into industrial development strengths, and achieving mutually reinforcing effects between industry and culture. Shandong will prioritize copyright protection as the foundation to build a solid cornerstone for cultural inheritance and development. Copyright creation will be emphasized to inspire innovation in the contemporary era, while the application of copyright will be highlighted for serving people’s better lives. Copyright cooperation will serve as a bridge to facilitate cultural exchange and mutual learning, continuously enhancing the coverage and influence of Chinese culture.

This event is the first parallel forum with a theme of copyright held within the framework of the Nishan Forum on World Civilizations. It was organized under the guidance of the Copyright Management Bureau of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and the National Office for the Compilation and Publishing of Ancient Chinese Classics, with the Publicity Department of CPC Shandong Provincial Committee as the host and the Publicity Department of CPC Jining Municipal Committee and Jining Cultural and Tourism Bureau as the organizers.

The forum invited authoritative experts from the fields of copyright, publishing, and folk arts to conduct discussions on the topic of “Copyright Empowering the Creative Transformation and Development of Fine Traditional Chinese Culture”. The discussions covered areas such as digital copyright, copyright protection in folk arts, AI, big data, and other copyright-related fields, providing new insights and solutions to promote the “creative transformation and innovative development” of fine traditional Chinese culture and the value transformation, inheritance and development of folk arts.