A visitor tries out a virtual reality facility during the 2023 Qingdao Digital Culture Application Development Expo.

Given the fact that China's digital economy is entering a new stage of development, Qingdao in East China's Shandong province is further accelerating the digital transformation and upgrading of industries.

The coastal city has also made continued efforts in recent years to facilitate integration of the digital and real economies, and become a forerunner in the digital culture sector.

One major initiative the city took recently to build a highland for the sector was hosting the 2023 Qingdao Digital Culture Application Development Expo.

The expo, held from April 6 to 9, has added new momentum to the high-quality development of Qingdao's digital culture, local officials said.

It has displayed the city's achievements in the sector, promoted the implementation of a number of cooperation projects, and initiated several industrial standards.

Agreements for 26 key projects were signed during its opening ceremony, consisting of four strategic cooperation projects and 22 industrial projects. They cover new forms of cultural businesses such as digital music, digital animation, digital film and television, and digital copyright protection.

Some strategic cooperation projects focus on platform construction, which will be used to accelerate the gathering and integration of digital cultural resources, and build a new industry ecology.

Also, the Qingdao West Coast New Area will join hands with three companies including China News Development Shenzhen and the news portal People.cn to build a national digital culture integrated service platform, and promote the implementation of related national development strategies in the new area.

Moreover, the West Coast New Area is aiming to be a "music island "with the help of digital music industrial projects, which will be engaged in the production and sales of smart pianos and digital music equipment.

The streaming platform iQiyi announced during the expo it will locate its North China production headquarters in Qingdao, which will boost the rapid development of the West Coast New Area's film and television industry chain.

The Qingdao Digital Culture Application Development Expo is China's first comprehensive conference focusing on the field of digital culture.

This year, it organized one keynote forum and six theme forums, bringing together experts, scholars and entrepreneurs in the sector to carry out discussions and exchange ideas on hot topics such as digital technologies and empowerment.

At the cultural digitization and digital copyright forum, the cultural big data industry committee of the China Public Relations Association released seven group standards for the national cultural big data system.

These standards cover such fields as the classification of cultural digital content, and cultural experience equipment and technology.

They also standardize the industry terms, technologies, processes and services. Experts said these standards will play an important role in guiding the construction of the national cultural big data system, and facilitate the implementation of the national digital strategy.

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn