China becomes leading world exporter of cultural goods: UNESCO

(CHINADAILY) China became the world's leading exporters of cultural goods in 2013, outpacing the United States, a UNESCO report showed on Thursday.

A new report by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) pointed out that the total value of China's cultural exports stood at US$60.1 billion, more than double that of the United States' US$27.9 billion.

"Trade in cultural goods totaled US$212.8 billion in 2013, nearly double the amount in 2004. This is further evidence of the critical role cultural industries play in today's global economy," said Silvia Montoya, director of the UIS.

While advanced countries were still dominating import of cultural goods, emerging markets bolstered their exports of cultural products with Turkey and India strengthening their positions in recent years, joining the world's top 10 exporters of such goods.

Art and crafts were among the 10 most traded cultural goods. Statues, statuettes and paintings also gained ground with their share of the trade in art and crafts was worth US$19 billion in 2013, the report showed.

As to gold jewelry, widely considered as "safe harbor in uncertain times," its sales totaled US$100 billion over the period.

However, trade in movies shrunk by 88 percent from 2004 to 2013 and traded musical goods also suffered a setback over the period. Meanwhile, audio-visual services as a whole steadily gained ground, the report said.

The downturn in the trade of print products, reflected by the decline in newspapers, books held their ground as an important cultural export in some regions, growing by 20 percent from 2004 to 2013, it added.