Industry News

SHENZHEN, May 25 (Xinhua) -- A forum attended by cultural industry leaders in Shenzhen City in south China's Guangdong Province has highlighted how AI is now deeply integrated into the country's content creation, distribution and global outreach.

During the recent forum on "Building up China's Cultural Strength 2026," organizations showcased innovations ranging from AI-generated documentaries and animated series to translated web novels, revealing how AI is rapidly reshaping the country's cultural landscape.

Among the participants, Hunan Broadcasting System (HBS) demonstrated its use of large language models and cloud computing technologies to build an AI-powered video creation infrastructure. After integrating its creative and technical teams and partnering with research institutions, HBS has released a fully AI-made documentary and an AI short drama, and is now working on an AI-generated long-form TV series.

China's online novels, a unique cultural product, have long faced two bottlenecks in international expansion. Many fantasy and science fiction stories are too complex for traditional film adaptation, and translating them for global audiences is both time-consuming and costly.

AI has solved both problems, said Xie Lanfang, vice president of Yuewen Group, a leading Chinese digital reading and IP development firm. The company has developed an AI assistant that handles tasks from text analysis to scene rendering, turning novels into animated episodes.

Since launching its AI comic drama service in the second half of 2025, Yuewen has released nearly 1,000 AI-generated works. More than 100 of them have exceeded 10 million views, with 12 surpassing 100 million views.

Si Xiao, dean of the Tencent Research Institute (TRI), noted that AI has dramatically expanded the pool of content creators. It is making everyone a potential creator, while slashing production costs and timelines, greatly boosting output.

AI is also giving rise to entirely new cultural formats and applications.

At the 22nd China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair, people queued to try the Qianwen AI glasses, developed by Beijing-based robotics company, Youshi Technology (China) Co., Ltd. Embedded with the Qianwen large language model, the glasses offer navigation, object recognition and voice-activated Q&A.

Wu Jianjun, a Youshi Technology employee, said the glasses have huge potential in museums and cultural heritage sites. When visitors are unfamiliar with an exhibit or painting, the glasses help them gain a deeper understanding of the exhibits.

AI is also facilitating the global dissemination of Chinese cultural heritage. The "Digital Library Cave" project, launched by Tencent and the Dunhuang Academy, uses AI to automatically recognize ancient sutras. Through human-machine collaboration, it corrects annotations, creating a digital library that allows audiences around the world to appreciate the treasures of ancient murals.

4DAGE Co., Ltd., a company specializing in 3D reconstruction and digitization, is using AI to create digital records of Chinese cultural relics lost overseas, making them accessible to a wider audience. The company also plans to use AI to conduct protective health checks on immovable cultural relics, such as heritage sites, said Yang Rongbing from the company.

Local policies are further bolstering AI-powered cultural development. Shanghai has provided technical assistance and computing power subsidies to support the micro-drama sector. Cultural and science departments in China's southwestern Sichuan Province have set up joint-funded projects to accelerate breakthroughs in key technologies and equipment.

Many industry participants at the forum called for the formulation of national guidelines on AI application in the cultural sector, including technical standards, data regulations, copyright rules and content labeling, to ensure ethical and sustainable growth of the sector.