Advances in Social Science and Culture ISSN 2640-9682 (Print) ISSN 2640-9674 (Online) Vol. 5, No. 2, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc 129 Original Paper The Promoting Role of Cultural Industry in “the Belt and Road” Initiative Hengran Bian 1* & Yi Liu 1&2 1 Institute of Strategy Research for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510070, China 2 Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China * Hengran Bian, E-mail: b18092100321@cityu.mo Received: April 12, 2023 Accepted: May 8, 2023 Online Published: May 13, 2023 doi:10.22158/assc.v5n2p129 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/assc.v5n2p129 Abstract The “soft power” function of the cultural industry in “the Belt and Road” is reflected in its connection with the “humanistic connotation”, “economic connotation” and “safety connotation” of “the Belt and Road”, and the construction of these three connotations can form the value and utility of the cultural industry in “the Belt and Road”. The three aspects of cultural value, commercial property and safety construction of “the Belt and Road” can really help the cultural industry play a role in “the Belt and Road” industrial chain. The way to promote the cultural industry can be summarized into three parts: the idea of cultivating the cultural industry, the construction of cultural product system and the construction of modern cultural park. Keywords “the Belt and Road”, cultural industry, promoting 1. Introduction It has been ten years since “the Belt and Road Initiative” was put forward. During this period, with the help of the historical heritage and cultural symbols of the ancient Silk Road, and in line with the principle of “extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits”, China and countries along the Belt and Road have gradually achieved industrial capacity cooperation and regional economic shared development along the Belt and Road through the establishment of the “five links” goal of “policy communication, facilities connectivity, trade unimpeded, financial integration and people-to-people communication”(Chen, 2018). Among them, it mainly involves energy, resources, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 2, 2023 130 Published by SCHOLINK INC. transportation and other fields, forming the “hardware” force of “ the Belt and Road” construction. The existing theoretical level also focuses more on “the Belt and Road” production capacity, investment, trade, resource supply and other fields, which played a driving role in the early stage of “the Belt and Road” construction. However, these fields often have long investment cycles and high risks. In the long run, it is difficult to form a common interest claim point for the further promotion of “the Belt and Road”, thus resulting in investment confusion and antagonism. In addition, the “five links” goal of “the Belt and Road” initiative is to make “the Belt and Road” policy and economic achievements benefit the well-being of the people along the road, trying to form a broader social foundation and social capital, and then drive a new round of industrial cycle replacement and investment and financing. Through the cooperation of the software and hardware of “the Belt and Road” economy, we can build a “community of destiny” between China and the countries along the Belt and Road. Therefore, at this stage, “the Belt and Road” needs to be further deepened in the connotation, operation mode and cross-cutting areas of the “software” power. Cultural industry is an important embodiment and booster of the “soft power” of “the Belt and Road”. It is an effective way to organically combine the economic, political and cultural connotations of “the Belt and Road”. In the process of reconstructing China’s industrial value chain, any single theme can hardly meet the construction of the world’s global pluralistic value system and “people’s ardent expectations for a better life”. In the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), it is emphasized that the concepts of “promoting Chinese culture together” and “promoting international cooperation” along the Belt and Road are the top-level design and theoretical basis for the connection between cultural industry and “the Belt and Road” (Liu, 2019). In view of this, it is proposed to use the concept of cultural industry to consolidate the construction of the cultural field along the Belt and Road, to strengthen the construction of the economic field along the Belt and Road with the differential development of cultural products, and to use the construction of cultural parks to strengthen construction of the regional security along the Belt and Road. Therefore, the construction of “culture + industry + Silk Road” is an important issue and development path to implement “the Belt and Road” initiative, and gradually incorporate the cultural industry into the theoretical research system and practical exploration of “the Belt and Road”, and use the idea of industrial integration to deepen the concept and action of cultural industry into “the Belt and Road” cooperation, which can effectively make up for the shortcomings of “the Belt and Road” investment. Through the development of cultural industry, we can achieve all-round production, economic and trade cooperation and ultimately realize the “the Belt and Road” initiative (Liu, 2019). 2. Connotation of Cultural Industry In the early period, there were two opposite views on the definition of cultural Industry. one held a negative attitude towards cultural industry, which originated from the concept of industrialization of cultural industry in 1947. it was first mentioned by Teaoduoer Adorno and Max Horkheimer, the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 2, 2023 131 Published by SCHOLINK INC. famous scholars of Frankfurt School, in their book Dialectic of Enlightenment. They believed that the industrialization attribute of cultural industry made it have the characteristics of batch, mechanization and repetition (Zhao, 2019). Therefore, cultural industry is equivalent to “cultural engineering”, while the other is Walter Benjamin, a representative of Frankfurt School who supports cultural industry, who regards film art as the starting point of research and believes that cultural industry is a unity with artistry and value. Cultural Industry, with its unique new format, involves a wide range of connotations. Therefore, its translation and understanding are different due to different regions, so there are different standards in different regions (Liu, 2010). Some focus on economic attributes, and some focus on its cultural considerations, starting with the dual value of cultural industry, that is, the commodity value and social value of cultural industry. Zhang Zengfang and others analyze the dual attribute and operation law of cultural industry. The essence of the influence of cultural industry in the new era is to deeply understand the value difference between cultural industry and other industries in the “the Belt and Road”, and we should further explore the operation and performance of “the Belt and Road” initiative from the perspective of cultural manufacturers, cultural market and cultural industry operation. Combining with the annotations of many authoritative institutions and researchers on the cultural industry, the cultural industry of “the Belt and Road” refers to the cultural products and services with standardized characteristics in order to pursue economic and social benefits and meet the material and spiritual cultural needs of the people along “the Belt and Road”. Therefore, the meaning of cultural industry in “the Belt and Road” can be further interpreted to form its triple connotation: the concept construction of cultural industry in the cultural field of “the Belt and Road”, the development of cultural products in the economic field of “the Belt and Road” and the construction of cultural park in the security field of “the Belt and Road” (Shen, 2016). Only by integrating the cultural value of “the Belt and Road”, the commercial attribute of “the Belt and Road” and the triple connotation of “the Belt and Road” security construction, can the cultural industry really play a role in the “the Belt and Road” industrial chain. 3. The Role of Cultural Industry in Promoting “the Belt and Road” Cultural industry has an interdisciplinary nature, and “the Belt and Road” initiative is also a multi-field and all-round construction proposal. As a result, the cultural industry’s role in “the Belt and Road” mechanism includes the following aspects: the role of cultural concepts and demand concepts in the cultural industry concept in the “the Belt and Road” humanities construction mechanism; the impact of cultural product development on industrial upgrading, regional cooperation, opening up and poverty alleviation and development in “the Belt and Road”; the role of cultural park construction in ensuring and maintaining regional security and stability, creating an investment environment and thus reducing investment risks. In short, the “soft” power role of cultural industry in “the Belt and Road” is reflected in its relationship with the “humanistic connotation”, “economic connotation” and “security www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 2, 2023 132 Published by SCHOLINK INC. connotation” of “the Belt and Road”, and the construction of these three connotations forms the value and utility of the cultural industry in the “the Belt and Road” from all aspects (Hu & Zhang, 2017). Cultural concepts contribute to the “Belt and Road” initiative. First is the concept of talent cultivation. “The Belt and Road” initiative, which rises to the level of values and purposes, requires not only political mutual trust, but also cultural and cultural exchanges and intellectual support. The fundamental reason for the world war and the clash of civilizations lies in the differences between culture, history and concepts. The core of cultural conflict lies in the “human” factor (Marjorie & Lyles, 2008). Schultz’s human capital theory holds that the significance and value of individual investment lies in the appreciation of human capital and the acquisition of surplus labor force, therefore, the input and output of talents have become the main body and core of the integration of world economy and culture. Every year, the Chinese government provides ten thousands scholarships to countries along the Silk Road. Kazakhstan alone has about three thousands young people studying in China. It has also provided nearly ten thousands training opportunities and five thousands teacher training places in South Asia. Through the replacement and training of talents, the understanding and recognition between China and the countries along the Silk Road have been deepened, and each region along the Silk Road has become a training base for each other’s human capital and a reserve force for industrial development, thus driving the long-term “humanistic” interaction. In ancient times, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism were introduced into China through the Silk Road, among which Buddhism reached its peak in the prosperous Tang Dynasty and became the most appealing and influential religion in China, and the concepts of “compassion” and “kindness to others” in its doctrines played a positive role in uniting the people, maintaining harmony and economic development. At that time, Japan sent Tang envoys to China to learn Buddhist culture, from which Buddhism quickly entered Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries, and gradually spread under the inheritance of “the Belt and Road”, and now it has become one of the three major religions in the world. In the development of “the Belt and Road” initiative, such dissemination of national culture will effectively reduce mutual misgivings and suspicions, and form “people-to-people” exchanges based on national characteristics. The concept of demand will help promote “the Belt and Road” initiative. First, the inheritance of science and technology. In “the Belt and Road” initiative, countries can promote each other’s commercial transactions, industrial integration and technological exchanges through the inheritance and cooperation of science, technology and culture. Specific to the country, the use of demand concept between enterprises engaged in technological upgrading, market regulation can be more conducive to intellectual support and technology heritage protection. Since ancient times, many regions of “the Belt and Road” have unique resource endowment and advanced science and technology culture, but due to institutional constraints and other reasons, they have not been able to tap their market demand, so that the rich cultural heritage of science and technology has been preserved for a long time (Zhao, 2019). For example, Central Asia is rich in nuclear resources. When the former Soviet Union developed nuclear industrial raw material mining technology and established processing facilities in Central Asia, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 2, 2023 133 Published by SCHOLINK INC. it left a key scientific and technological heritage for Central Asia, making it an important initial capital to gain a foothold in today’s international nuclear energy market, but confined by the planned economic system of the Soviet Union at that time, it failed to expand the supply of high-quality scientific and technological resources to the international market (Li, Deng, & Liu, 2017). As far as demand is concerned, only half of China’s uranium mineral resources depend on international imports before 2030, and the world market actually has a large market gap. After that, in order to adapt to the call of “going out” and “the Belt and Road”, Central Asia gradually breaks the market restrictions based on market demand, actively infiltrates the awareness of scientific and technological and cultural heritage protection while profiting from the development of energy industry, thus effectively protecting and inheriting its rich scientific and technological culture. Secondly, in terms of experience dissemination, the fruitful results of “the Belt and Road” initiative need a platform with experience in cultural dissemination and promotion. In the implementation stage of “the Belt and Road” initiative five years later, many advanced cultural achievements have been made public. Therefore, the transformation of cultural achievements into actual productivity and policy programs requires the promotion concept of “good wine but also afraid of deep lanes”, and at the same time, the corresponding promotion agencies need to be able to carry out continuous intellectual excavation. And “the Belt and Road” think tank construction and research institutions play a role in disseminating and tapping the needs of “the Belt and Road”. Since “the Belt and Road” initiative was put forward, more than eight hundreds research institutions in China have participated in and conducted extensive academic discussions. In the past four years, there have been more than thirty new think tanks with the theme of “the Belt and Road”. The think tanks of “the Belt and Road” are mostly concentrated in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shaanxi and Fujian. “The Belt and Road Big Data Report” released by the National Information Center and the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences think tank research center and the “China Think Tank Report-Influence Ranking and Policy Recommendations” can divide “the Belt and Road” think tank into national think tank, media think tank, university think tank, social think tank, party and government think tank, local government think tank and so on. These think tanks have built intellectual platforms from various aspects of “the Belt and Road” construction experience, and disseminated the experience and achievements of the Silk Road construction (Mei & Cheng, 2018). The concept of innovation helps the humanistic Belt and Road. The cultural industry is a creative industry, a contemporary industry integrating intellectual innovation and technological innovation. Therefore, intellectual innovation and technological innovation are important ideas to help the humanistic Belt and Road. On the one hand, in the layer of intellectual innovation, the humanistic construction of “the Belt and Road” needs perfect “knowledge group” and “subject group”. The cluster income of knowledge elements requires its expansion of scale effect to achieve intellectual spillover, so it is urgent to excavate creative knowledge groups and protect their intellectual property rights in “the Belt and Road”. At the same time, the systematic “the Belt and Road” cultural industry discipline system can establish innovative ideas of action program to make up for “the Belt and Road” humanistic field of the lack of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 2, 2023 134 Published by SCHOLINK INC. rules to follow; on the other hand, in the technological innovation level, “the Belt and Road” humanistic construction needs innovative “title technology” and “network.” Modern technology and cultural industry blend “title technology” is a revolutionary way to promote “the Belt and Road” cultural industry. Making full use of modern information technology and internet technology can quickly obtain first-hand information and understand the demand direction of “the Belt and Road” cultural industry. For example, Latin American barometer, a Latin American public opinion survey organization, will publish the attention of countries in Latin America every year to form reference data. China’s telecommunications and internet enterprises have also opened up the wireless network market in Indonesia, and extended the “Wechat” platform to Southeast Asian countries, these innovative achievements constitute the “circle of friends” of “the Belt and Road” cultural exchanges. Cultural products development helps the economy of “the Belt and Road”. First, the cultural product system helps regional economy. The concept of cultural product system can be formed by the generalization of the connotation of cultural products. Cultural product system usually includes not only the positioning and competition of cultural products at the strategic level, but also the design and development of cultural products and services, price setting, channel arrangement and promotional packaging at the strategic level. The construction of cultural product system along “the Belt and Road” has its specific role in promoting regional economy. This is because nine of the fourteen provinces in China are located in the central and western regions, which means that the central cities and policy focus of “the Belt and Road” are mainly in the central and western regions of China. In addition, Central Asia and West Asia, which are adjacent to China, have been facing long-term conflicts and wars, ethnic and religious problems, regional closure and industrial structure, and the general level of regional development is relatively low, so it is difficult to rapidly improve their traditional agricultural foundation and weak industrial structure along “the Belt and Road” route (Quan, 2018). Therefore, the injection of cultural products can effectively make up for the potential pressure and shortcomings of “the Belt and Road” agriculture and industry. From the perspective of the commercial strategy of cultural products, “the Belt and Road” initiative will focus on the developing areas in western China and neighboring countries, which can help to adjust the regional industrial structure with the help of national and regional cultural products, narrow the differences between the central and western regions, thus reducing the world’s poor population and developing regional economy. For example, cultural tourism products formed by natural resources with local characteristics are one of the typical cultural products, many historical sites of the ancient Silk Road have been successfully selected into the World Heritage List and formed famous commercial and trade towns and cultural tourism products of the land and sea Silk Road. Five years ago, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and China jointly declared the “Silk Road: Changan-Tianshan Corridor Road Network” successfully selected into the World Heritage List, of which thirty-three representative sites formed cultural centers, business centers and tourist destinations, greatly promoting the local industrial growth and regional prosperity. From the perspective of business strategy of cultural products, the profitability, dissemination and packaging promotion of cultural www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 2, 2023 135 Published by SCHOLINK INC. products can rapidly and effectively promote regional economic development and form a new growth pole. The Silk Road has developed rapidly in the wave of marketization in Central Asia. In Almaty, Kazakhstan, cultural products with the registered trademark of “Silk Road” have become “decent” “business cards” and enjoy a high reputation. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, “Silk Road” hotels first hung up the “Silk Road” brand, and gradually commercialized, “Silk Road Gas Station”, “Silk Road Travel Agency” and “Silk Road Hotel” immediately appeared, and also formed “Silk Road Commercial Street” and “Silk Trade City”, which have become an important driving force for regional development today. Secondly, the expansion of cultural brands helps to expand the market. The ancient Silk Road was originally a road of economic and cultural exchanges, a Chinese “brand” that spread to Europe through Central Asia. Among them, the degree of industrial cooperation projects depends on the degree of difference in product brands in the industrial market. Therefore, in the process of “the Belt and Road” construction, we need to use the concept of cultural brand construction to subdivide the market, and further establish the subdividing variables of the cultural brand development audience along “the Belt and Road”, such as subdividing regional environment variables, demographic variables, behavioral variables, purchasing mode variables, etc. Indexing the subdividing variables can form product differentiation and brand differentiation strategy, thus bringing new economic growth points in the industrial chain. In addition, the market structure theory of industrial organization theory also thinks that the degree of product differentiation can be regarded as the differentiated products and differentiated brands manufactured by enterprises to arouse buyers’ special preferences for the products, so as to occupy a favorable competitive and monopolistic position in the fierce market competition, which has become the market requirements of the theoretical basis for the branding of cultural industry. Cultural brand is the formal product of cultural products, and the measurement of cultural brand differentiation is based on the cross-elasticity of demand and advertising density of cultural products, so the diversification of brands is conducive to the development of commercial cooperation. In the ancient maritime Silk Road transactions, landmark cultural products with regional characteristics, such as grapes and alfalfa in the Western Regions, sculptures and glass in Europe, and rare treasures in South Asia, have been labeled as regional brands in commercial exchanges to promote the development of related industries. China has established some cooperative brands in the field of industrial industry, such as China’s Petro. China has joint venture with Kazakhstan to operate Aktobin company, PK company and so on, through pipeline compression technology to stabilize the Central Asian market and produce brand effect, and successfully establish market leap through mutual benefit demand. Such as the establishment of ecological agriculture brand in Central Asia, building a “Silk Road” brand of Chinese catering culture, and so on, from the perspective of cultural form product development to promote industrial cooperation. Third, cultural service construction helps cost control (Zhao, 2019). In the construction of “the Belt and Road” cultural industry, intangible service products can effectively integrate heterogeneous industrial resources and enhance industrial relevancy. “The Belt and Road” is a historic process of resource integration, and its development organically links human, financial and www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 2, 2023 136 Published by SCHOLINK INC. material and forms a more perfect industrial chain, while cultural services are a direct and effective way to combine human resources, equipment and technology resources and information resources. Taking advantage of the advantages of local labor force in the less developed areas of “the Belt and Road” can increase employment, improve the quality of after-sales service and vigorously develop the service trade and management consulting industry, reduce the construction cost of “the Belt and Road” and reduce world poverty. In addition, the construction of cultural services can indirectly enhance the relevance of “the Belt and Road” cultural industry through cost control. Because “the Belt and Road” cultural industry is formed through the joint development of upstream and downstream links in the industrial chain, and the investment in cultural services is to increase the added value of industrial links to promote the improvement of its relevance (Quan, 2018) . Cultural park construction promotes the safety of “the Belt and Road”. Cultural industry clusters maintain social stability. Although the core of “the Belt and Road” initiative lies in its economic and cultural connotations, it does not involve political and military issues. However, social stability and industrial security will also affect “the Belt and Road” economic construction. The construction of cultural parks is a powerful industrial layout and platform in the investment process of countries along “the Belt and Road” route. The establishment of industrial clusters in “the Belt and Road” point urban areas can absorb the introduction of foreign capital, form industrial demonstration zones and industrial scale effect, promote the development of surrounding economy, create employment opportunities and maintain social stability (Zang & Wu, 2019). First, the construction of China’s cultural center is the result of regional policy. Since “the Belt and Road” initiative was put forward, China has successively established various types of cultural industry clusters, which is a rapid development stage formed after the vertical integration of cultural parks. Moreover, China’s science and technology and cultural industry parks are mostly developed with the national overall planning and government policy loans as the main source of financing, so the construction of cultural industry parks also actively adapt to and combine with China’s regional development strategy. The construction of folk tourism areas, ecological science and education industrial parks and high and new technology industrial development zones, which are formed when the western development strategy is put forward, is the prelude to the combination of “the Belt and Road” strategy with the regional development strategy, and is the process of using the competitiveness of industrial clusters to maintain social stability. On the one hand, “the Belt and Road” cultural industry cluster can establish professional parks of logistics, science and education, tourism, leisure, agriculture and other related cultural industries through specialized division of labor, attract foreign capital and supporting facilities to invest in the park twice, and give full play to the effect of division of labor and cooperation; on the other hand, “the Belt and Road” national cultural industry park can open up and integrate a variety of industrial forces, often in the form of comprehensive parks at this stage, forming a gathering effect. Taking the representative national cultural industrial park of “the Belt and Road” as an example, the Indonesian government has successfully expropriated 6000 hectares of land in the county seat of Solon in West Papua province as www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 2, 2023 137 Published by SCHOLINK INC. an industrial park, attracting enterprises in several industrial fields to enter the park for development. Cultural industrial zones, including the Russian Island Development Zone, which are mainly engaged in cultural industries, have promoted in-depth communication among ethnic groups in border areas, thus condensing the positive energy of ethnic groups and increasing tolerance and understanding, eliminating the influence of the “three forces” and national misunderstandings from the ideological source, and jointly safeguarding regional security and economic prosperity (Wen & Zhong, 2018). Industrial security mainly refers to “the Belt and Road” construction process, specific industries along the competition to maintain a relatively independent industrial status, competitive advantage and production safety. Therefore, “the Belt and Road” construction of industrial security mainly includes industrial control, industrial competitiveness and national industrial rights and interests of three aspects. With the development of information technology and network, cultural characteristic parks have gradually shifted from labor-intensive to technology-intensive, forming new control, competitiveness and benefits. First, the cultural characteristic park forms the new industrial control power. The core of the industrial control power lies in the industrial control process of domestic capital. Therefore, the characteristic cultural town and cultural corridor construction in the city periphery control can stabilize the original industrial chain link and connect it, form a more stable industrial control power, in order to reduce the impact due to the international crisis. In the process of establishing the Silk Road, agricultural technology with Chinese characteristics, such as sericulture, went to Central Asia, formed a characteristic agricultural breeding leisure tourism base near its industrial park, helped Central Asia make full use of its human capital and land resources development, which was of positive significance for developing good-neighborly and friendly relations and stabilizing the border areas. Secondly, the cultural characteristic park forms the new industrial competitiveness. On the one hand, increasing the industrial competitiveness depends on the characteristic brand. On the other hand, it needs to extend the added value of the industrial chain. Therefore, the cultural characteristic park is the necessary way to combine the cultural brand with the industrial chain organically. China is a big country with traditional culture, but not a strong cultural country. The reason is that the competitiveness of cultural resources has not been excavated (Quan, 2018). After “the Belt and Road” initiative was put forward, the cultural industry training concept and base with the development of Chinese traditional culture as an opportunity gradually developed. In recent years, Finland has sent students to learn Chinese “year” culture and food culture every year. And the “Confucius Institute” promoted by China in the world is the embodiment of cultural exchange and “soft power” in the form of Chinese traditional cultural park. Thus, the formation of a “contact area” with culture as a link can promote the exchange of multilateral cultural industries and thus form a new competitiveness. Thirdly, the cultural characteristic park forms a national industrial income. The establishment of cultural characteristic park combines the experience of “the Belt and Road” and “going out”, and the industrial parks established along the Silk Road at home and abroad can get favorable industrial policy support (Wen & Zhong, 2018). The “National Gourmet Street” and the “Gourmet Restaurant” are the cultural characteristic parks that integrate the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 2, 2023 138 Published by SCHOLINK INC. rich agricultural and sideline products from Central Asia and tropical fruits exported from Southeast Asia into China through the preferential policy of “the Belt and Road”, with the combination of traditional Chinese cuisine and cooking technology. These parks not only meet the diversified needs, but also promote the development of the tertiary industry, promote national income, and provide guarantee for the safety of industrial transportation on land and sea. 4. Realization Path of Cultural Industry Promoting “the Belt and Road” The soft power of the cultural industry in “the Belt and Road” initiative is an organic combination of a series of influencing factors. Of course, with the development of “the Belt and Road” initiative, the scope of the “cultural industry” continues to expand in depth, so the influence of the cultural industry is also expanding. 4.1 It Is Urgent to Create a New Theory of International Division of Labor to Promote and Guide the Win-Win Cooperation of Cultural Industries along “the Belt and Road” The Chinese government has put forward “the Belt and Road” initiative in the face of sluggish global economic growth. The initiative has provided Chinese wisdom for revitalizing the world economy. Strengthening “the Belt and Road” initiative will, on the one hand, promotes China’s industrial upgrading and optimization, and, on the other hand, promotes win-win cooperation among countries along the Belt and Road. How to promote the smooth progress of “the Belt and Road” initiative through the exchange of cultural industries is a major issue that needs to be solved urgently, and new theories are urgently needed to provide guidance (Fang, Li, & Sun, 2017). At present, most of the relevant research is based on the traditional theory of international division of labor, which is dominated and controlled by developed countries, the division of labor and benefit distribution mechanism has been completely distorted, and the interests of most developing countries have been seriously infringed. It is urgent to create a set of international division of labor theory of mutual benefit and coordinated development to promote and guide the cultural industry cooperation along “the Belt and Road”, and to put forward China’s plan for promoting human well-being and creating a better future. 4.2 Formulate and Implement “the Belt and Road” Cultural Industry Docking Strategy and Give Full Play to the Synergy Effect “Belt and Road” countries are in different stages of economic development, resource endowment structure and the level of economic development is quite different, local governments should seize the opportunity of industrial upgrading, jump out of the traditional inertia thinking of regional economic growth, change the investment without industrial choice, analyze the local factor endowment structure, identify the dominant industries and select key industries and formulate policies and measures. As for the central government, it needs to make top-level design and address the issue of how to integrate economic policies with cultural industry policies. It needs to make use of market instruments to make overall planning for industrial layout and capacity control, and encourage all regions to adjust measures www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 2, 2023 139 Published by SCHOLINK INC. to local conditions and strengthen coordination with neighboring regions (Liu, 2017). The economic development level and cultural industry development level of the countries along “the Belt and Road” are multi-level, and the development level of cultural industry is unbalanced in mainland China (eastern, central and western regions). What appropriate mode, path and supporting policy should be adopted to achieve win-win cooperation? At present, there is a lack of specific research on stratification and grading. Moreover, most of the papers and books written by domestic scholars are based on Chinese information, so that we still know little about how the governments and people of the countries along the route respond to China’s “the Belt and Road” initiative. How to formulate and implement “the Belt and Road” cultural industry docking strategy on the basis of understanding the actual situation of other countries or regions, play a synergistic effect, and truly play a harmonious development, mutual benefit and win-win role, is one of the strategic issues that need to be considered in the future. 4.3 Relying on the Implementation of the “the Belt and Road” Initiative to Promote the Development of the “Internet +” Cultural Industry Cluster The internet + cultural format is highly anticipated, but it has yet to develop on a truly large scale. The pervasive and cross-border penetration of the internet has laid an important foundation for industrial clusters to establish distributed organizational networks, optimize resource allocation, cross-border cooperation and collaborative innovation on a global scale. China has fully entered the internet era, with more than seven hundred and fifty million people using the internet. According to the data of Tencent Research Institute, our online game sector surpassed the United States in 2016 and maintained a high growth rate. It is a relatively large comparative advantage industry in the world. The structural optimization and upgrading of China’s cultural and creative industry cluster, the use of “internet +”, the promotion of “the Belt and Road” strategy, relying on the historical opportunities of the country, vigorously developing virtual network services and network space, we should promote the combination of real space and virtual space, promote the combination of online and offline services, promote the combination of cultural industry and related real economy, and promote cultural industry, upgrade China’s position in the value chain of global cultural industry, the supply chain of cultural resources and the service chain of cultural brands (Ulam, 2016). 4.4 Expanding Diversified Business Models and New Formats of Cultural Industries, from Attracting Investment to Educating and Manufacturing Businesses According to a report released by the “Belt and Road” Big Data Center (2018) of the National Information Center, among the major areas of cooperation between media and netizens in ASEAN countries, tourism is the first one. At present, China is doing very well and has a certain original significance. The business model should belong to the “performing arts + tourism” model. At present, China’s cultural industry has become an important part of the national economy. The growth of cultural industry can have a direct impact on economic growth, at the same time, cultural creativity has penetrated into all sectors of the national economy, and is promoting the development of related www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 2, 2023 140 Published by SCHOLINK INC. industries through integration and innovation. Under the background of economic globalization and “internet +”, the business model of cultural and creative industries is constantly innovating: from content to channel to platform to ecological chain, from single business to integrated product production system to cross-domain comprehensive diversification, and then to high-end industry chain mode. 4.5 Strengthening the Protection of Intellectual Property rights and Personnel Training Cultural industry is a knowledge-based industry with intellectual property rights as its core content. The basis for the rapid and healthy development of cultural industry is to obtain high added value from continuous innovation and creation of cultural intellectual property rights. The most important thing for the creation and innovation of cultural intellectual property rights is talents. Especially in the current global economic downturn, “with the country’s economic underdevelopment, part of the belt and road cognitive bias, policy restrictions, cultural differences, piracy, social instability, China’s cultural industry and cultural underdevelopment in some regions, cultural industry talent scale is small, the quality is not good” (Tihanyi, Griffith, & Russell, 2005). From the perspective of the global value chain system, China’s cultural industry is still at the low end of the industry value chain, lacking national brands, independent intellectual property rights and core competitiveness. It can be predicted that the continuous development of block chain technology will make breakthroughs in the field of cultural and creative industries. 4.6 Integration of Cultural Industry with Traditional Industries and Science and Technology With the emergence of VR, AR and other technologies, the integration of cultural industry and science and technology has aroused widespread concern. Now the popular “Silk Road Economic Belt” digital museum is the use of virtual reality technology, the collection of historical and cultural elements, the most advanced high-tech and intangible cultural heritage, protection and recovery from aesthetic awareness, so that people can feel the “Silk Road” cultural charm in the country’s journey. Improving the technological level and international competitiveness of the industry is not only an important task of current and future economic work, but also plays a supporting role in the cultural industry. Under the current situation, how to actively use the cultural and creative industries along “the Belt and Road”, promote the technological transformation of traditional industries, and enhance the level of China’s “intelligent manufacturing”, so as to comprehensively enhance the industrial technology level and international competitiveness, is one of the focus of attention in the future (Xing, 2016). On the one hand, China should deal with the relationship between the emerging cultural industry and the traditional cultural industry; on the other hand, we must increase the proportion of high-tech capital and research-intensive cultural products in the development of cultural industry. 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