Report on the Development of Culture and Related Industries in 2025

In 2025, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, all regions and departments fully implemented the decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee and the State Council. Centered on the goal of building China into a country with a strong culture, the country moved faster to nurture new-type cultural enterprises and new cultural forms, optimized the business environment, and improved the quality of development. Cultural and related industries achieved vigorous growth with steadily rising profitability. Industries with new cultural forms took the lead in driving development, and scientific and technological innovation in cultural industries picked up speed.

I. Production and Operation

i. Business revenue of culture and related industries exceeded 20 trillion yuan

With the continuous improvement of China’s cultural industrial system and market system, China’s culture and related industries (hereinafter referred to as “cultural industries”) have expanded steadily. In 2025, cultural industries nationwide achieved a business revenue of 20,825.4 billion yuan[1], surpassing the 20 trillion yuan threshold and hitting a record high, up by 8.8% year on year[2]. Underpinned by culture-related services, the structure of cultural industries kept improving. In 2025, culture-related services achieved a business revenue of 12,305.2 billion yuan, up by 12.8% year on year, accounting for 59.1% of the total business revenue of cultural industries, up by 2.1 percentage points year on year. Culture-related services contributed 82.7% to the business revenue growth of cultural industries. Culture-related manufacturing and culture-related wholesale and retail achieved business revenue of 4,991.9 billion yuan and 3,528.3 billion yuan, respectively, up by 0.6% and 8.0% year on year.

ii. Business revenue of nine major sectors of cultural industries achieved growth across the board

In 2025, business revenue saw growth across nine major sectors of cultural industries. Specifically, four sectors posted double-digit business revenue growth year on year: creative design services (13.2%), content creation and production (12.4%), news and information services (12.3%), and cultural, entertainment and leisure services (10.7%). The other five sectors recorded year-on-year growth rates as follows: 8.0% in cultural equipment production, 7.7% in cultural communication channels, 3.1% in cultural investment and operation, 2.7% in cultural auxiliary production and intermediary services, and 2.5% in cultural consumption terminal production. By region, cultural industries in eastern and western regions achieved business revenue of 15,528.0 billion yuan and 2,029.8 billion yuan, up by 9.5% and 9.9% year on year, respectively, both higher than the national average growth rate. The central and northeastern regions achieved business revenue of 3,007.1 billion yuan and 260.5 billion yuan, up by 4.7% and 4.8% year on year.

II. Assets and Profitability

i. Total assets of cultural industries kept rising

At the end of 2025, the total assets of China’s cultural industries reached 37,447.4 billion yuan, an increase of 8.9% over the end of the previous year. By industry type, total assets of culture-related manufacturing, culture-related wholesale and retail, and culture-related services were 5,060.2 billion yuan, 2,744.3 billion yuan and 29,642.8 billion yuan, respectively, up by 5.7%, 7.2% and 9.6% over the end of the previous year. By field, assets of core areas of culture[3] and those of culture-related fields were 29,414.5 billion yuan and 8,032.9 billion yuan, up by 8.7% and 9.4% over the end of the previous year. Core areas of culture contributed 77.4% to the total asset growth of cultural industries, up by 1.0 percentage point year on year. Among the nine major sectors, assets of content creation and production and cultural equipment production achieved double-digit growth, up by 15.6% and 15.3%, respectively, over the end of the previous year. Business revenue brought by per-hundred-yuan assets in cultural industries was 58.0 yuan, up by 1.0 yuan year on year.

ii. Profitability of cultural industries improved steadily

In 2025, cultural industries in China achieved a total profit of 1,903.4 billion yuan, up by 7.3% year on year. Specifically, cultural enterprises above the designated size achieved a total profit of 1,393.3 billion yuan, up by 5.6%, while cultural enterprises below the designated size achieved a total profit of 510.1 billion yuan, up by 12.2%. In 2025, the profit rate of business revenue of cultural industries was 9.1%. Per capita business revenue and per capita total profit reached 963 thousand yuan and 88 thousand yuan, up by 94 thousand yuan and 7 thousand yuan, respectively, year on year.

III. Development of Industries with New Cultural Forms and Technological Innovation

i. Industries with new cultural forms played the leading role

In 2025, 16 industry sub-categories with distinct characteristics of new cultural forms[4] achieved a business revenue of 7,665.1 billion yuan, up by 15.1% year on year, 6.3 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of all cultural industries, demonstrating the sustained leading role of industries with new cultural forms. These industries with new cultural forms accounted for 36.8% of the total business revenue of cultural industries, up by 2.0 percentage points year on year, and contributed 59.7% to the business revenue growth of cultural industries, up by 1.8 percentage points year on year. Specifically, three industry sub-categories, namely, internet advertising services, multimedia, game animation and digital publishing software development, and other internet information services, stood out in driving business revenue growth.

ii. R&D investment in cultural industries grew rapidly

In 2025, cultural enterprises above the designated size invested 182.0 billion yuan in research and experimental development (R&D), up by 12.1% year on year. These enterprises employed 500 thousand R&D personnel, up by 5.2%, who accounted for 7.1% of the total workforce of cultural enterprises above the designated size, 0.5 percentage points higher than the previous year. The in-depth integration of culture and technology has become a key engine fueling the innovative development of cultural industries.

Major Indicators in Culture and Related Industries in 2025

Notes:

[1] Annual data of culture and related industries cover enterprises above the designated size, as well as legal entities (including public institutions) below the designated size engaged in culture and related industries.

[2] Unless otherwise specified, growth rates in the table are nominal growth rates without deducting price factors.

[3] Core areas of culture include six industries: news and information services, content creation and production, creative design services, cultural communication channels, cultural investment and operation, and cultural, entertainment and leisure services. Culture-related fields include three industries: cultural auxiliary production and intermediary services, cultural equipment production, and cultural consumption terminal production.

[4] The 16 industry sub-categories with distinct characteristics of new forms are: radio and television integrated broadcast control, Internet search services, other Internet information services, digital publishing, other cultural and art industries, digital content services for animation and games, Internet game services, multimedia, game animation and digital publishing software development, value-added telecommunication cultural services, other cultural digital content services, Internet advertising services, Internet cultural and entertainment platform, copyright and culture software services, intelligent UAV manufacturing for entertainment, intelligent wearable cultural equipment manufacturing, and other intelligent cultural consumer equipment manufacturing.

Annotations:

I. Notes on Indicators

Culture and related industries refer to the collection of production activities that provide cultural products and culture-related products for the public. According to the Classification of Culture and Related Industries (2018), culture and related industries include nine categories: news and information services, content creation and production, creative design services, cultural communication channels, cultural investment and operation, cultural, entertainment and leisure services, cultural auxiliary production and intermediary services, cultural equipment production, and cultural consumption terminal production.

Business revenue refers to the inflow of economic benefits from production and operating activities of enterprises, such as selling goods, providing labor services and transferring the right-of-use assets during the year.

Total assets refer to all resources owned or controlled by an enterprise through past trades or transactions that are expected to generate economic profits, measured at the end of the year.

Business revenue brought by per-hundred-yuan assets=business revenue ÷ average assets ×100, unit: yuan.

Total profit refers to the surplus earned by an enterprise during the year through its production and operating activities after deducting various expenses from the total revenue. It reflects the total amount of profit or loss realized by an enterprise during the reporting period.

Profit rate of business revenue=total profit ÷ business revenue × 100%, unit: %.

Per capita business revenue =business revenue ÷ average number of employees for the year, unit: 10,000 yuan.

Per capita total profit = total profit ÷ average number of employees for the year, Unit: 10,000 yuan

Research and experimental development (R&D) expenditure refers to the full amount of actual expenses incurred within the year to carry out research and experimental development (R&D) activities. Research and experimental development (R&D) means creative and systematic work undertaken to expand the stock of knowledge (including knowledge concerning humanity, culture and society) and devise new applications of existing knowledge.

II. Statistical Coverage

The scope of statistics in culture and related industries covers the industries defined in the Classification of Cultural and Related Industries (2018). Enterprises above the designated size engaged in culture and related industries refer to industrial enterprises with an annual principal business revenue of 20 million yuan or above, wholesale enterprises with an annual principal business revenue of 20 million yuan or above or retail enterprises with an annual principal business revenue of 5 million yuan or above, service enterprises with an annual business revenue of 10 million yuan or above, of which the sectors of transport, storage and post, information transmission, software and information technology services, and water conservancy, environment and public facilities management shall have an annual business revenue of 20 million yuan or above, and residential services, repair and other services, and culture, sports and entertainment shall have an annual business revenue of 5 million yuan or above; those failing to meet the above threshold are classified as enterprises below the designated size engaged in culture and related industries.

III. Survey Method

During economic census years, the identification of legal entities engaged in culture and related industries is conducted, and the data are aggregated based on information obtained from comprehensive surveys of all enterprises engaged in culture and related industries, public institutions and other entities through the national statistical online direct reporting platform.

In non-economic census years, the identification of legal entities above the designated size engaged in culture and related industries is conducted, and the data are aggregated based on information obtained from comprehensive surveys of enterprises above the designated size engaged in culture and related industries through the national statistical online direct reporting platform. Meanwhile, data for legal entities below the designated size engaged in culture and related industries (including public institutions) are estimated based on sample survey results of corresponding cultural industry sectors from the platform.

IV. Division of the Eastern, Central, Western, and Northeastern Regions

The eastern region includes 10 provinces (municipalities): Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong and Hainan; the central region includes 6 provinces: Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei and Hunan; the western region includes 12 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities): Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Xizang, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang; the northeastern region includes 3 provinces: Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang.