Draft

Address by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the launch of the Chinese version of the 2013 Creative Economy Report

Beijing, 4 June 2014

Excellencies Ministers,

Mr Hao Ping, President of the UNESCO General Conference, Vice Minister of Education,

Mr Jin Shangyi, Director of the Dadu Museum of Art,

Mr Wang Jianlin, President of the ,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am honoured to be here, to launch the Chinese version of the 2013 Creative Economy Report.

From the outset, I wish to thank the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, as well as the Wanda Group for their support in this endeavour.

Page 1 - 07/07/2014 - 12:37:01 It is a pleasure to return to the Dadu Museum of Art, after I participated in the Beijing Forum for the Arts and the City last October.

On that occasion, I attended also the first International Conference on Learning Cities and the first Summit of UNESCO Creative Cities.

These were preceded in June by the International Conference on Intangible Cultural Heritage, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the UNESCO Intangible Heritage Convention.

In May, there was the Hangzhou International Congress on Culture: Key to Sustainable Development.

All of this speaks to China’s leadership in breaking new ground for international cooperation.

It speaks to the importance the Chinese Government attributes to mobilizing creativity and innovation.

It speaks to the value China gives to new forms of ‘soft power’ – including the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, which includes Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Chengdu and Hangzhou.

In all these ways, China is leading from the front in making culture and creativity one of the pillars of its development strategy -- one of the drivers, in the words of President , of the “Chinese dream.”

07/07/2014 - 12:37:01 - Page 2 This year, on 27 March, I had the honour to welcome President Xi to UNESCO in Paris.

Speaking before Member States, President Xi made the stakes clear:

Civilizations have come in different colours and this diversity has made exchanges and mutual learning relevant and valuable. Just as the sunlight has seven colours, our world is a place of dazzling colours.

President Xi spoke about cultural heritage and diversity as forces for creativity, dialogue and mutual understanding.

UNESCO shares the same vision.

Culture is more than monuments and books – it is who we are.

It is the wellspring of imagination, meaning and belonging.

It is a source of identity and cohesion at a time of change.

It is a force of creativity and innovation in an age of limits.

No society can flourish without culture.

No development can be sustainable without it.

This is the message China and UNESCO are bringing to the global conversation underway on a new development agenda to

07/07/2014 - 12:37:01 - Page 3 follow 2015, to recognise culture as a driver and an enabler of sustainable development.

For the future agenda to be universal and effective, I am convinced it must build on cultural diversity, drawing on the power of creativity.

This is a core message of the 2013 Creative Economy Report, which UNESCO developed with the United Nations Development Programme.

The conclusions are clear.

Across the world, the creative economy is an economic engine, providing jobs and income.

It is also a social engine, nurturing identity, dignity and inclusion.

This dual nature is perhaps the greatest strength of the creative economy -- it is also the key to sustainability in all development.

The facts speak for themselves.

In 2011, the world trade of creative goods and services totalled a record $ 624 million, more than doubling between 2002 and 2011.

More and more countries are investing in culture as a force for sustainable development, including China, Brazil, India and Indonesia, where the cultural sector represents 10 percent of GDP.

07/07/2014 - 12:37:01 - Page 4 But this is not a numbers game.

The non-monetary values generated by the creative economy are equally important – for social cohesion, for quality of life.

The example of China is reflected throughout the Report – which notes the Government’s creative industries strategy, and the promotion of culture in urban policies, such as Hangzhou’s plan to support cultural enterprises.

There is the strengthened copyright protection, helping Nantong textiles achieve success in domestic and international markets.

There is Beijing’s development as a creative city, including public- private partnerships -- the example of Wanda Group investment in the Wuhan central culture district is important here.

The Report draws on experience from across the world, including projects benefiting from UNESCO’s International Fund for Cultural Diversity.

It is ground-breaking work – investigating the creative economy from the perspective of local actors in developing countries, showing the dynamism of cultural and creative sectors, identifying factors of success, and setting out recommendations to move forward.

All of this shows cultural goods and services are far more than commodities.

07/07/2014 - 12:37:01 - Page 5 They are the software for development.

As President Xi said at UNESCO:

Culture is a booster for human progress.

This vision of culture was the focus of a high-level debate in the United Nations General Assembly on 5 May.

This built on the Resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly last December, calling for concrete ways to integrate culture into the post-2015 development agenda.

Sustainable development must be the development of the people, by the people, for the people -- this is precisely the role of culture, to bring people on board, to nurture their creativity.

This is the message we must continue to share, to shape a new agenda for global human development.

I thank you once again for your support and commitment.

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