Southern Metropolis Daily:

As we all know, Jiangxi has a profound traditional culture and is home to important cultural symbols such as Tengwang Pavilion and White Deer Cave Academy as well as the world-famous porcelain from Jingdezhen city. The Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum will open this month. What measures will Jiangxi take to renew Jingdezhen ceramic culture's vitality and make the ceramic brand name shine brighter? Thank you.

Liu Qi:

Ms. Shi will answer this question.

Shi Xiaolin:

Thank you for your question. As you just said, Jingdezhen ceramics are renowned all over the world, and Jingdezhen ceramic culture is an important cultural symbol for the world to better understand China and for China to promote itself to the world. In 2019, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council assigned Jiangxi an important mission and significant opportunity to build the Jingdezhen National Ceramic Culture Inheritance and Innovation Pilot Zone. General Secretary Xi Jinping called on the province to "build the Jingdezhen National Ceramic Culture Inheritance and Innovation Pilot Zone into a new platform for cultural exchanges with other countries." Keeping in mind the instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping, the CPC Jiangxi Provincial Committee, and the Jiangxi Government have seized the opportunity and substantively pushed ahead with this task. We have set up a leading group and a working mechanism headed by the provincial governor and via the promotion of all relevant parties. At the same time, we have received strong support from various ministries and commissions, experts and scholars as well as all sectors of society. At present, remarkable progress has been made in site protection, cultural inheritance, industrial development, and talent pooling, etc. Next, we will deliver in the following five aspects:

First, we will do a good job in inheritance and protection. General Secretary Xi Jinping has made important instructions on the protection of the Imperial Kiln Sites of Jingdezhen on two occasions. The site is the root of our ceramic culture. We insist on a holistic pursuit of development and protection. We will take Jingdezhen imperial porcelain-firing workshops as the core and conduct systematic and dynamic protection of the old blocks, old factories, old lanes, and old kiln sites to ensure that the original style and cultural characteristics of the old city are retained and to reproduce the relics of thousand-year-old ceramic culture, the 600-year-old imperial kiln culture, and the century-old ceramic industry. It can be said that Jingdezhen has the most complete system for producing handmade porcelain in the world. After years of efforts, more than 10 kilns from past dynasties have been rebuilt and restored firing. As you mentioned just now, the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum will begin trial operations on May 18. This museum, which is open 24 hours a day, features a description of the 600-year history of the royal kiln factories during the Ming and Qing dynasties and outlines local stories regarding its ceramic culture. Combining cultural relics and the arts, this museum is also a borderless museum, integrated into the culture of the whole city through its architectural design and digital technologies application. We believe that the museum will become a new cultural landmark of the thousand-year-old ceramics capital of Jingdezhen.

Second, we will do a good job in the creative industry. We feel that the arrival of the era of personalized and customized consumption has created greater prospects for the innovation and creativity of the ceramic industry. We will fully explore Jingdezhen's brand, cultural, and historical value and strengthen leading enterprises, build industrial clusters, and foster a great ceramic industry, integrating ceramic production, ceramic trade, ceramic technology, and ceramic culture. In the past two years, the number of ceramic cultural enterprises in Jingdezhen has increased by more than 2,000. We should better integrate ceramic culture into modern life and make Jingdezhen a cultural and creative capital of ceramic product design.

Third, we will do a good job in the integration of culture and tourism. At the fifth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, it was specifically proposed that with the goal of developing into a strong country in culture, we should build several world-class tourist attractions and holiday resorts with rich culture, and develop national tourism and leisure cities and blocks with distinctive cultural features. We think that Jiangxi, especially Jingdezhen, has a greater role to play in this regard. We will further amplify Jingdezhen's brand effect as a national historical and cultural city, a national civilized city, and a national tourist city, and promote the deep integration of culture and tourism. In the near future, based on the existing national 5A tourist attraction of the Jingdezhen Ancient Kiln Folk Custom Expo Area, the China Top Porcelain Exhibition Hall, and the Jingdezhen China Ceramic Museum, among others, and taking the opportunity to hold the Jiangxi Tourism Industry Development Conference, we will launch the "10 scenic spots," "three feasts," and "two plays." The "10 scenic spots" include the Taoyangli Imperial Kiln Historical Blocks, the Taoxichuan Culture and Creative Blocks, and the Sanbao International Ceramic Valley, etc.; the "three feasts" refer to the Nanchang Ceramic Feast, the Fuliang Tea Feast, and the Sanbao Village Feast; while the "two plays" represent a large-scale live-action show and a large-scale original musical show. We will strive to promote the development of the pilot zone into a world-renowned ceramic culture and tourism destination and make Jingdezhen a romantic and captivating place that people yearn to visit.

Fourth, we will do good job of international exchanges. Porcelain making has a long history and a far-reaching presence. By giving further play to the role of Jingdezhen ceramics in international cultural exchanges, we will integrate into the construction of the Belt and Road more actively, tell China's stories well, and build exchange and cooperation platforms such as cultural exhibitions, ceramic studies, exhibition economy, and cross-border e-commerce. We are building an international ceramics exhibition and trade center which will host the China Jingdezhen International Ceramics Expo, and develop the expo into one that never ends. It has been held for 17 sessions so far. We will also innovate marketing methods through internet technology and information technology to enhance the popularity and reputation of the pilot zone and make the time-honored porcelain capital into a prestigious, international capital of porcelain.

Fifth, we will do a good job of pooling talent. A new and unique cultural phenomenon is that many people from other places are coming to live and work in Jingdezhen. Tens of thousands of artists from over 40 countries and regions across the world communicate, innovate, and create work there, reviving the scenes of "artisans gathering from far and wide, while their handicrafts spread worldwide." At the same time, we are actively promoting Jingdezhen's cooperation with the Palace Museum, Peking University, Central Academy of Fine Arts, and China Academy of Art in running schools and hosting exhibitions, and actively developing world-class disciplines at Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute to turn it into a distinctive university with global influence. We will build a national-level training base for high-skilled talent in ceramics and gather a bank of global ceramic talent. We will also build more high-level platforms for innovation, design, research and development, and copyright and intellectual property protection, to further improve the environment for innovation, entrepreneurship, and creation. This will attract more talent, so that the pilot zone will become a popular and desirable place for many ceramic talents from across China and abroad. Thank you.