43% of music albums are sold in digital form; low-budget films win great success; more and more fiction, films and television plays become sources of cartoons; self-publishing make it possible to issue your own publications—along with new trends in globalized culture , what will be the cultural highlights in China in 2014?

Films: a more and more diversified market

In 2013, the total box office in China reached 21.77 billion yuan, a 27.51% increase over the previous year. Domestic films secured box office revenues of 12.767 billion yuan, making up 58.65% of the total.

According to Liu Haodong, director of the Industry Center of China Film Association, growth in the box office in 2014 will be similar to 2013. 2013 provided a good opportunity for the development of different types of films because of the diversification of the market. In 2014, we can expect some real domestic blockbusters - eye-catching in production and content - to be commercial standouts.

Performance Arts: return to rationality

The "Statistics and Analyses of 2013 Beijing Performing Market" issued by the Beijing Association of Performing Arts suggest that in 2013, 23,155 performances were held in Beijing, bringing in total revenues of 1.44 billion yuan. This represented a 5% drop compared with the previous year. In 2013, because of the "eight-point regulation" issued by CPC Central Committee Political Bureau on rejecting extravagance and reducing bureaucratic visits, meetings and empty talk, the performing arts business experienced a slow-down, but it also presented an opportunity for highly market-oriented performances such as concerts and dramas.

According to Li Dashi, secretary general of the China Association of Performing Arts, the market took a hit from the reduction of block bookings by government organizations in 2013. The total turnover of the performing arts industry in 2013 is expected to fall by about 25%. The regulations issued by CPC Central Committee have stopped the waste of government funds; at the same time they will help the performing arts market return to a more rational structure.

Information consumption: highlights of the 4G era

2013 can be called "the year of big data", when unprecedented vitality was released in information consumption. According to a forecast from the China Center for Information Industry Development, the direct consumption of information products and services will reach 3.38 trillion yuan and include around 2 trillion yuan in e-commerce sales. The hotspots of information consumption in 2014 will be smart information terminals, broadband services, smart industrial consumption goods, internet content and applications services, and e-commerce.