Xue Yunda (left)accompanies Henri-Claude Cousseau (right), former Director of Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts at Yishu 8 on October 15, 2012 (ZHANG CHUANQI)

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 post-production 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."

Xue Yunda, the founder and president of Shang Ba Culture Group (ZHANG CHUANQI)

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."