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HoW can a creative cultural space be built in old factories’ workshops？
This idea comes from the 41-year-old Xue Yunda， the founder and President of Shang Ba （Cable 8） Culture Group， who has established a chain business of nine cultural industry parks in Beijing so far， housing around 300 cultural companies.
Xue’s Shang Ba cultural creativity industrial park is the first of its kind established in China， and was established five years earlier than Beijing’s well-known 798 Art Zone， which was built using converted Soviet-style factories.
Converting old factories
Xue was born and raised in the industrial city of Jixi in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province， and has developed a natural bond with factories.
“The old factories link the former glory of older generations and my childhood dreams，” said Xue.
After graduating from Beijing Film Academy， he began his efforts to convert Beijing’s old plants for creative purposes and realize his artistic dream.
In 1997， Xue rented workshops in the Beijing No. 6 Factory of Auto Maintenance. It is the first factory to be converted by Xue into a creative space.
However， it was difficult to find artists to rent his workshops in the 1990s.
“I even went from door to door persuading trade companies to rent the workshops as storehouses，” he recalled.
Everything comes to him who waits. “Things began to change when a photographer who came back from France rented 300 square meters in the factory to set up his studio，” he said.
Gradually， students and graduates from nearby Tsinghua University’s Academy of Art & Design started coming to set up their own studios. Xue has since leased the space to artists， designers， filmmakers and cartoonists.
After Xue managed to rent out 10，000 square meters of space in the factory， he sought to expand his mission.
Developing chain business
In 2007， Xue created Shang Ba brand， or Cable 8， whose name comes from its original base – Beijing Electric Wire Cable Factory located at No.8 Langjiayuan in Beijing’s Chaoyang District.
Over the past five years， the company has developed from one cultural park to a chain business of nine cultural parks， each with different focuses， housing around 300 cultural companies covering the fields of filmmaking， contemporary art， advertising， design， music and other cultural sectors.
Six of the nine parks are located in the capital’s Central Business District （CBD）， and the business area totals 156，000 square meters. Companies can choose from working spaces ranging from 20 to 500 square meters， depending on the nature and scale of their businesses. Shang Ba Culture Group is the first company to run a chain business of cultural creativity parks.
“The chain aspect highlights our parks， and it rapidly enhances our brand value and influence，” said Xue.“With each park featuring different characteristics， the chain business caters to the varied needs of different cultural enterprises.”
Some well-known Chinese stars in the cultural and entertainment industry have also moved in and set up their studios in the parks.
“At the very beginning of developing the chain， we targeted building a high-end brand， so strict standards were set to screen the companies，” Xue said.
Currently， among the 300-plus enterprises， 46 percent are film， TV and new media companies， 17 percent are in advertisement， public relations， and exhibition， print and Internet media companies make up 11 percent， and galleries account for 6 percent， according to Shang Ba Culture Group.
As of July 2012， the operating revenues of enterprises based in Xue’s parks totaled over 17 billion yuan （$2.71 billion）， and the taxes paid total around 1 billion yuan （$159.24 million）， according to Xue.
“The ideal location and low costs of old factories are an advantage for developing cultural industrial clusters，” commented Li Xin， an associate research fellow at Tsinghua University’s cultural industry research institute.
“The scale effect of the chain business helps reduce the parks’ operation cost， and thus reduces the running costs of each company，” Li explained. “In addition， the group has built a variety of public service platforms， which benefit the companies that moved in.”
Providing value-added services
“To be successful， we not only need to bring in companies in the parks， but also need to provide our clients value-added services，” said Xue.
Director Ju Anqi set up a studio in Shang Ba’s film industry park as early as 2007. For him， the good services the park provides attracted him and he made the decision to move in.
Ju said that in the past， he had to go to different places to find film production companies， film equipment and camera rental companies， as well as postproduction companies. But now it’s more convenient and efficient， as he can find everything he needs within the park.
“The park has managed to integrate every step of the film production process， including investment， script writing， production， promotion， marketing and distribution.” said Ju. Ju felt Xue understood what his clients really needed. He said the events and activities held in the parks often brought companies from similar industries together. “It’s much easier for us to find partners. One cannot find such good opportunities in other parks，”he noted.
“Although the space of studio isn’t big， I can use the pubic space in the park to hold meetings and salons，”he added.
Famous Chinese TV presenter Liu Yiwei， another client， echoed Ju’s view. “Cultural enterprises can almost find all the services in the chain parks， which adds value to the Shang Ba brand，” he said.
For Xue， establishing such industrial chains is the core competitiveness of the cultural industry parks， “so that we have the upstream and downstream industries supporting each other， providing all of the services our clients need，” he explained.
“For example， in our advertising park， we not only bring in advertising companies， but also have photography， post production and public relations companies to support each other，” said Xue. “The hope is to build a beneficial circle in the parks， and we want it to be win-win.”
Incubating cultural businesses
After setting up the chain business， Xue didn’t stop expanding his cultural industry empire.
He thinks big and thinks ahead. And now his group also acts as the incubator for cultural creativity businesses.
“The initial start-up and the early growing period are key for the development of cultural creativity enterprises，” noted Xue.
He added that his group was committed to helping some cultural companies start up through direct investment， one year of free rent， or a 50-percent discount on rent.
Chi Wei， +86 Design Store’s founder， didn’t know what direction his design career would take until he talked to Xue， who has helped Chi set up studio in his parks years ago.
The store， named after the Chinese mainland’s country code， mainly focuses on selling creative houseware products， which are very popular among young people.
According to Xue， in some foreign countries， the daily necessities such as the tableware and curtains will be changed like clothes in different seasons， while most Chinese people still use one set of houseware products for many years.
“But the trends are changing. More young people are aware of the concept of independent designers. Apart from buying big brands， they want to get more creative things，” he said. “We think this consumer market will be a big one in the future，” he added. Xue saw the potential in this company and made an investment， helping it develop into a well-known houseware design shop. Currently， +86 Design Store has opened several shops in Beijing， showcasing lots of products from up-and-coming designers around the world. The products on display are popular as well.
“Hopefully， the shops will also be found in the second- and third-tier cities in the near future，” said Xue.
Since 2009， Xue has been looking for opportunities to cooperate with companies within the parks. As with the +86 Design Store， Xue’s group has also helped and supported other companies through providing work space or making investment and cooperation.
When speaking about future plans， Xue said he hoped to expand the number of the cultural parks in China to 20 in the next three to five years， serving around 1，000 cultural creativity companies.
“Cultural industry parks in the city’s business area are like an oasis in a desert，” Xue said， adding that he hopes his Shang Ba cultural parks “will become a leader and model for the country’s cultural industry.”
This idea comes from the 41-year-old Xue Yunda， the founder and President of Shang Ba （Cable 8） Culture Group， who has established a chain business of nine cultural industry parks in Beijing so far， housing around 300 cultural companies.
Xue’s Shang Ba cultural creativity industrial park is the first of its kind established in China， and was established five years earlier than Beijing’s well-known 798 Art Zone， which was built using converted Soviet-style factories.
Converting old factories
Xue was born and raised in the industrial city of Jixi in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province， and has developed a natural bond with factories.
“The old factories link the former glory of older generations and my childhood dreams，” said Xue.
After graduating from Beijing Film Academy， he began his efforts to convert Beijing’s old plants for creative purposes and realize his artistic dream.
In 1997， Xue rented workshops in the Beijing No. 6 Factory of Auto Maintenance. It is the first factory to be converted by Xue into a creative space.
However， it was difficult to find artists to rent his workshops in the 1990s.
“I even went from door to door persuading trade companies to rent the workshops as storehouses，” he recalled.
Everything comes to him who waits. “Things began to change when a photographer who came back from France rented 300 square meters in the factory to set up his studio，” he said.
Gradually， students and graduates from nearby Tsinghua University’s Academy of Art & Design started coming to set up their own studios. Xue has since leased the space to artists， designers， filmmakers and cartoonists.
After Xue managed to rent out 10，000 square meters of space in the factory， he sought to expand his mission.
Developing chain business
In 2007， Xue created Shang Ba brand， or Cable 8， whose name comes from its original base – Beijing Electric Wire Cable Factory located at No.8 Langjiayuan in Beijing’s Chaoyang District.
Over the past five years， the company has developed from one cultural park to a chain business of nine cultural parks， each with different focuses， housing around 300 cultural companies covering the fields of filmmaking， contemporary art， advertising， design， music and other cultural sectors.
Six of the nine parks are located in the capital’s Central Business District （CBD）， and the business area totals 156，000 square meters. Companies can choose from working spaces ranging from 20 to 500 square meters， depending on the nature and scale of their businesses. Shang Ba Culture Group is the first company to run a chain business of cultural creativity parks.
“The chain aspect highlights our parks， and it rapidly enhances our brand value and influence，” said Xue.“With each park featuring different characteristics， the chain business caters to the varied needs of different cultural enterprises.”
Some well-known Chinese stars in the cultural and entertainment industry have also moved in and set up their studios in the parks.
“At the very beginning of developing the chain， we targeted building a high-end brand， so strict standards were set to screen the companies，” Xue said.
Currently， among the 300-plus enterprises， 46 percent are film， TV and new media companies， 17 percent are in advertisement， public relations， and exhibition， print and Internet media companies make up 11 percent， and galleries account for 6 percent， according to Shang Ba Culture Group.
As of July 2012， the operating revenues of enterprises based in Xue’s parks totaled over 17 billion yuan （$2.71 billion）， and the taxes paid total around 1 billion yuan （$159.24 million）， according to Xue.
“The ideal location and low costs of old factories are an advantage for developing cultural industrial clusters，” commented Li Xin， an associate research fellow at Tsinghua University’s cultural industry research institute.
“The scale effect of the chain business helps reduce the parks’ operation cost， and thus reduces the running costs of each company，” Li explained. “In addition， the group has built a variety of public service platforms， which benefit the companies that moved in.”
Providing value-added services
“To be successful， we not only need to bring in companies in the parks， but also need to provide our clients value-added services，” said Xue.
Director Ju Anqi set up a studio in Shang Ba’s film industry park as early as 2007. For him， the good services the park provides attracted him and he made the decision to move in.
Ju said that in the past， he had to go to different places to find film production companies， film equipment and camera rental companies， as well as postproduction companies. But now it’s more convenient and efficient， as he can find everything he needs within the park.
“The park has managed to integrate every step of the film production process， including investment， script writing， production， promotion， marketing and distribution.” said Ju. Ju felt Xue understood what his clients really needed. He said the events and activities held in the parks often brought companies from similar industries together. “It’s much easier for us to find partners. One cannot find such good opportunities in other parks，”he noted.
“Although the space of studio isn’t big， I can use the pubic space in the park to hold meetings and salons，”he added.
Famous Chinese TV presenter Liu Yiwei， another client， echoed Ju’s view. “Cultural enterprises can almost find all the services in the chain parks， which adds value to the Shang Ba brand，” he said.
For Xue， establishing such industrial chains is the core competitiveness of the cultural industry parks， “so that we have the upstream and downstream industries supporting each other， providing all of the services our clients need，” he explained.
“For example， in our advertising park， we not only bring in advertising companies， but also have photography， post production and public relations companies to support each other，” said Xue. “The hope is to build a beneficial circle in the parks， and we want it to be win-win.”
Incubating cultural businesses
After setting up the chain business， Xue didn’t stop expanding his cultural industry empire.
He thinks big and thinks ahead. And now his group also acts as the incubator for cultural creativity businesses.
“The initial start-up and the early growing period are key for the development of cultural creativity enterprises，” noted Xue.
He added that his group was committed to helping some cultural companies start up through direct investment， one year of free rent， or a 50-percent discount on rent.
Chi Wei， +86 Design Store’s founder， didn’t know what direction his design career would take until he talked to Xue， who has helped Chi set up studio in his parks years ago.
The store， named after the Chinese mainland’s country code， mainly focuses on selling creative houseware products， which are very popular among young people.
According to Xue， in some foreign countries， the daily necessities such as the tableware and curtains will be changed like clothes in different seasons， while most Chinese people still use one set of houseware products for many years.
“But the trends are changing. More young people are aware of the concept of independent designers. Apart from buying big brands， they want to get more creative things，” he said. “We think this consumer market will be a big one in the future，” he added. Xue saw the potential in this company and made an investment， helping it develop into a well-known houseware design shop. Currently， +86 Design Store has opened several shops in Beijing， showcasing lots of products from up-and-coming designers around the world. The products on display are popular as well.
“Hopefully， the shops will also be found in the second- and third-tier cities in the near future，” said Xue.
Since 2009， Xue has been looking for opportunities to cooperate with companies within the parks. As with the +86 Design Store， Xue’s group has also helped and supported other companies through providing work space or making investment and cooperation.
When speaking about future plans， Xue said he hoped to expand the number of the cultural parks in China to 20 in the next three to five years， serving around 1，000 cultural creativity companies.
“Cultural industry parks in the city’s business area are like an oasis in a desert，” Xue said， adding that he hopes his Shang Ba cultural parks “will become a leader and model for the country’s cultural industry.”