Beijing's 798 Art Zone, well-known both at home and abroad, attracted many foreign leaders during the Olympic Games. However, Zhou Minhao, secretary-general of Shanghai's Economic Commission, pointed out that Shanghai's creative industry will not take the same path: it'll give full play to its own unique advantages.

At present, over two thirds of the creative industry clusters in Shanghai take root on the basis of preserving and developing old factories and buildings. These clusters have gradually formed their own local characteristics.

In fact, as Shanghai's industrial base continues to shift to the rural areas, around 20 million sqm of old factories and old buildings have been made available in the city's central district.

In developing the creative industry, efforts are being made to preserve the historical flavour of the city, while the element of creativity is injected into old factories and buildings through innovative design and refurbishment.

By so doing, not only is the historical flavour of Shanghai preserved, it's claimed, but renovation creates a cradle for the hatching of new industries.

According to Zhou, the Shanghai municipal government won't directly invest in the creative industries, but will provide a sound market environment for enterprises.

Currently, there are 75 creative industry clusters in Shanghai and the number is expected to grow further. The municipal government is in the process of formulating measures for the administration of these industry clusters with the aim of proactively and effectively regulating their development and upgrading the standard of the creative industries.

The Shanghai municipal government is also advocating the establishment of a Creative Industry Alliance and encouraging industry players in Shanghai to join on a voluntary basis. The alliance aims to promote industry self-discipline and to enhance efforts to protect intellectual property rights.

Shanghai's creative industry has grown in leaps and bounds. In 2007, total output value of the industry exceeded Rmb300 billion, a growth of almost 30% year-on-year and accounting for 7% of Shanghai's total industrial output value.

As such, the creative industry has emerged as an important new pillar in Shanghai's economic development.

Meanwhile, among the renowned creative brands established in Shanghai are SOM, which designed the Jin Mao Tower and L'Or¨¦al's Asian R&D centre.

In mid October, the 2008 Shanghai International Creative Industry Week will be held under the theme of "Brilliant Creativity - Design Future". This event is set to promote the development of China's creative industries and strengthen exchanges and co-operation with other countries.

This year will be the fourth edition of the event in Shanghai, with participants from over 20 creative industry sectors around the world.