Guangzhou expands its creative sector

The mainland's cultural and creative market is developing rapidly, but it faces the problem of product homogenization.

In Guangzhou, a cultural and creative park is attracting niche brands with low rents, even though the park makes no profit.

This might look like a traditional Chinese medicine shop. But inside the drawers of this cabinet, there are no medicinal herbs, only incense sticks. Written on the "prescriptions" are the desires of many modern people.

In this fragrance shop, after smelling the scents, customers can take the "medicine" for themselves from the cabinet.

The shop is located in this cultural and creative park in Liwan District, Guangzhou. Foot traffic here is not as high as in nearby shopping malls, but the monthly rent is only 3,000 yuan.

The person in charge of the shop says locating it in this old town matches her shop's philosophy, which is to combine tradition and modernity.

Many young people who go on city walks at the weekend will choose a place like this rather than somewhere more commercial and bland.

This cultural and creative park now has more than 40 brands. This visitor says that in shopping malls, products are more mass-market, while niche products can be found here.

This visitor says she will consider buying handmade canvas bags and bracelets if they are of good quality.

The National Bureau of Statistics says that last year, the operating revenue of the national cultural wholesale and retail industry exceeded 3.5 trillion yuan, up 8 percent from the year before.

The person in charge of the cultural and creative park believes that products must have distinctive features to be competitive. He says that cultural and creative products are relatively easy to copy and therefore prone to homogenization.

He has years of experience in the industry, so he knows how to screen and select better original handmade brands to be the park's tenants. As for profit and loss, as long as he does not lose too much, he will keep going.

He believes that although the park may not have a high economic value, it does have a certain cultural value.

The rental fees for small stalls are set flexibly. The owner said that for brands with higher costs, the commission rate will be lower, in the hopes that more quality brands will stay.