Cultural commerce can sail around the globe like a ship promoting China’s soft power and serving priorities under the latest five-year plan. National political adviser and art patron Adrian Cheng Chi-kong tells Wu Kunling a flourishing culture is the hallmark of Chinese modernization and Hong Kong, as a world city, can help drive the effort.

Hong Kong can capitalize on its internationalized soil and align with national policies like the Belt and Road Initiative to advance cultural commerce development — a vessel for Chinese culture to go global in response to the goal of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) to augment the international influence of Chinese culture.

Adrian Cheng Chi-kong — a national political adviser from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and a cultural tycoon — gave his views in an exclusive interview with China Daily on the sidelines of this year’s two sessions — the country’s top annual political gatherings.

The fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference kicked off in the Great Hall of the People on March 4. A day later, the 14th National People’s Congress — China’s top legislature — began its fourth session at the same venue, with the 15th Five-Year Plan passed at the NPC session on Thursday.

READ MORE: China’s top legislature vows greater support for Hong Kong SAR

The blueprint reaffirms that a flourishing culture is the hallmark of Chinese modernization, urging a significant enhancement of Chinese culture’s appeal and the continued rise of China’s soft power to better present Chinese culture to the world.

Culture ‘going out’

Cheng says cultural commerce can be an effective vessel for Chinese culture to go global, a vital pathway to making China a country with a strong culture. And the Hong Kong SAR, as a world city, is well-positioned to lend the nation a hand.

The prominent entrepreneur and art patron was appointed chairman of the Mega Arts and Cultural Events Committee by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau in 2023 and reappointed last year. He’s also the founder of K11 — the city’s cultural-retail landmark and the K11 Art Foundation.

As China seeks to expand its global cultural influence, he calls cultural commerce a “ship carrying our culture to the world” — one that merges the arts and commerce and transforms cultural content into sustainable cultural capital. Aboard this vessel, the nation can showcase its arts, innovative intellectual property, animation, films, the fan economy, retail brands, gaming and more to the world audience.

However, while technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality can empower cultural exports, he stresses that quality content remains the key. Compelling content should not only reflect values that Chinese people take pride in, but also transcend language and cultural barriers to resonate emotionally across different regions.

In this regard, Cheng believes Hong Kong’s internationalized soil will become increasingly advantageous and can greatly help promote Chinese culture on the world stage.

With the institutional strength of “one country, two systems”, the special administrative region serves as a superconnector linking the Chinese mainland and the world — a longstanding convergence point for Chinese and Western cultures, lifestyles and talent — he says.

City’s strategic position

In recent years, the SAR government has been actively positioning the city as an East-meets-West center for international cultural exchange — a mandate that’s also outlined in the 15th Five-Year Plan. Cheng notes that the Mega Arts and Cultural Events Committee he helms has funded 23 international arts and cultural events that have been held in the city. These events covered visual arts, performing arts, music, dance and more, attracting more than 5 million participants.

Hong Kong’s mega-events economy is also booming — a “wellspring” for international cultural exchange — while the new landmark Kai Tak Sports Park, which opened last year, has become a platform for global pop culture links. The venue ranked third globally in ticket sales and fifth worldwide for total gross revenue in 2025, ranking first in both categories in Asia.

Hong Kong’s status as a world financial and trading hub has further fostered the incubation of emerging industries and drawn professionals from around the world.

In such a highly internationalized environment, Cheng believes, Hong Kong can be a creative, transforming and transit hub for Chinese culture in all its forms, making our culture more accessible and easier to global audiences. Thus, the cultural commerce sector should further collaborate with mainland brands and content creators, leveraging Hong Kong’s international reach for coordinated growth.

“Future projects in this field must adhere to the nation’s blueprint outlined in the 15th Five-Year Plan,” Cheng says, citing the Belt and Road Initiative in particular. As the 15th Five-Year Plan kicks off this year, calls among Hong Kong industries for closer integration with the mainland have grown louder. Cheng believes the cultural commerce sector should follow suit and leverage its unique position to bridge the mainland with international markets.

The tycoon says he highly values markets in countries and regions engaged in the initiative, especially the Middle East, and pledges to continue cultural projects of various scales that serve both the initiative and the industry’s expansion.

“Culture is capital, a language, a bridge,” he says, expressing confidence that Chinese culture will resonate across borders and become more vivid to global audiences.

Contact the writer at amberwu@chinadailyhk.com