CICA launched the International Exchange Project for Chinese Talents of Arts Creation and Arts Management in 2013, with a goal to introduce advanced international management experience, upgrade the professionalization of Chinese art and management professionals in cultural sectors, and build a platform for exchanges between Chinese and foreign cultural professionals. The program has carried out year-round training in the performing arts, cultural exhibitions and handicraft design for professionals, working in collaboration with China Oriental Performing Arts Group Co Ltd, the National Art Museum of China, CIEA-BA Exhibition Co Ltd, China Cultural Media Group Limited, Capital Museum of China, China National Theatre for Children and the National Centre for the Performing Arts.

The program has invited experts to give lessons, and hold case studies and forums for professionals. These experts include 31 distinguished individuals within China and 38 people from first-class international art institutions, such as the Royal Opera House in the UK, the global marketing and advertising agency AKA in the UK, the Berlin Opera Foundation in Germany, the New York Musical Theatre Commune, the Daegu Music Festival in the Republic of Korea, the Smithsonian Institution in the US, the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, the Guggenheim Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum in the UK, and the Museum of the Netherlands in Amsterdam.

Up to now, the program has held 17 training courses, trained 1,589 people and received extensive attention and praise in the sector. The program has already achieved three communication objectives of its launch: fostering communication among domestic and foreign industry talents, government authorities and industry institutions, as well as State-owned institutions and private enterprises.

CICA has selected more than 20 professionals each year from domestic art institutions to visit overseas art institutions and conduct one- to two-month exchanges. These efforts, backed by funding and cooperation from the China National Arts Fund, aim to cultivate high-end composite art and management professionals and build a platform for exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreign cultural institutions.

By 2017, 507 people from 304 art institutions in 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions had signed up and applied to participate in the project. Forty-one people have been selected to do an internship in 31 foreign art institutions in 19 countries, including the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Japan. It is expected that 90-100 people will be dispatched by the end of 2018.

CICA has shared 70 exchange experiences with its domestic counterparts through its website and public WeChat account. Through the project, professionals sent abroad have developed an international perspective and learned advanced management experience. Some have even discovered valuable research materials lost overseas. At the same time, they made friends with their foreign counterparts, introduced Chinese culture to them, and bridged a cooperative channel between Chinese art institutions and their foreign counterparts. Overall, they believe the benefits of the project have exceeded their expectations, and the exchange results are gradually emerging.