The 13th Suzhou Creative & Design Cultural Industry Expo took place at Suzhou International Expo Centre, SIP from Oct 18 to 20. About 200 cultural enterprises from over 40 countries and regions showcased nearly 20,000 cultural products, and a number of investment and financing projects were showed and signed.

Many exhibitors were new comers to the expo. The 1,000-square-meter pavilion for the “Special Exhibition of International Cultural and Creative Products” gathered organizations, design companies and trade companies from 32 countries and regions including the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Japan.

More than 160 kinds of creative products from the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Museum of Fine Arts Boston and the National Gallery London were displayed, in addition to merchandise inspired by The Little Prince, a classic French literary work, and those created based on animation works.

The expo showcased the essence of traditional and modern Chinese culture through a series of theme exhibitions focusing on fashion designs, innovative works created based on intangible cultural heritage, and popular Chinese brands. A pop-up store was set up on site to provide over 100 products inspired by the culture of Suzhou.

A theme exhibition space showcased artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, virtual reality (VR)/augmented reality (AR) technologies and digital interactive devices that could help promote the development of culture and creative industries. A paper designs exhibition jointly offered by Jiangnan University and Suzhou-based company Paper Plus Culture deeply impressed the visitors.

The event also included an exhibition of industrial art, an immersive theater featuring elements of the Tang Dynasty (618–907), and the “Plush Supermarket” which offered over 100 kinds of stuffed and plush products created by different museums based on their collections.