AI-powered film technologies highlighted at Cultural Industries Fair

The ongoing 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair has seen a slew of artificial intelligence (AI)-integrated photographic robotic arms and virtual reality (VR) systems brought by Chinese film tech firms.

More than 120,000 cultural products are on display, and over 4,000 investment and financing projects in the cultural industries are showcased and traded at the event.

Industry players at the event highlight AI's penetration across the filmmaking chain, from pre-visualization to post-production.

The AI filmmaking replaces green screens with real-time AI-generated environments visible to actors and directors during filming, and enables elaborate shots without costly rehearsals, according to exhibitors.

A domestically developed robotic camera arm drew attention for enabling precise, synchronized cinematography. The system executes complex shots -- such as a 10-second multi-actor tracking sequence -- with millisecond accuracy while feeding footage directly into AI-generated environments.

"It is through our software that I get to convert the virtual paths and the real-life footage into hardware, so as to achieve the most complex scenes. For example, a one-shot, a long shot or shot-switching between multiple objects and multiple actors. If you use real people you need multiple departments to rehearse. (This robotic arm) can perfectly use the data in AI to reproduce it," said Meng Juntao, an exhibitor.

The fair also debuts what developers claim the world's first XR-powered 'seated VR cinema' system.

Using head-mounted displays with 8K Ultra High-Definition resolution and ultra-wide fields of view, the technology transports viewers into hyper-realistic scenarios, from oceanic depths to interstellar travel, while requiring minimal physical infrastructure.

"The seated VR cinema can be brought into scenic areas and other public place. In the past, our traditional movies always had a picture frame. The audience used to be a bystander of the story, but now by using the VR technology, we can make the audience a witness of the story," said Wang Jixuan, deputy general manager of Xi 'an Film Studio Co., Ltd.

A total of 6,280 government delegations, cultural institutions, and enterprises are participating in the event either online or offline, an increase of 265 over the previous session, welcomed by 3,300 exhibitors at the fair.

AI-powered film technologies highlighted at Cultural Industries Fair

The 9th Hongqiao International Economic Forum opened in Shanghai on Thursday, convening business leaders and representatives from around the world to explore paths to a more open global economy together.

The two-day event is being held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center under the theme "Stability and Cooperation: Building an Open World Economy Together," bringing a series of parallel sessions and report releases alongside the main discussions.

Now in its ninth edition, the forum has grown into a premier platform for dialogue on global economic cooperation, with a series of parallel sessions and report launches running alongside the main discussions.

A major highlight was the unveiling of the World Openness Report 2026, which showed that global openness tightened significantly in 2025, even as emerging and developing economies moved in the opposite direction, with China continuing to rank at the forefront among them.

Chinese and international experts at the gathering urged countries worldwide to join hands in fostering global openness and cooperation based on mutual trust, inclusiveness and accessibility.

Also making its debut was the Export-to-China Capacity Development Report, which analyzes China's market demand and import policies from multiple perspectives and aims to help other countries, particularly those in the Global South, enhance their capacity to export to the Chinese market.

The parallel sessions covered a broad agenda, from China's development achievements in the 25 years since its accession to the World Trade Organization to free and fair trade, cooperation on industrial competitiveness, and Hong Kong's new opportunities as its development strategies align with the 15th Five-Year Plan.

Discussions also turned to global economic rebalancing and innovation in the humanoid robot and embodied AI industries, with several research reports released during the sessions.

The forum is running alongside the 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE), which opened in Shanghai the same day, drawing more than 4,100 overseas exhibitors from 148 countries and regions.

First held in 2018 as the world's first national-level expo dedicated to imports, the CIIE has since evolved into a vital gateway for foreign businesses seeking access to China's vast consumer and industrial markets.

9th Hongqiao Forum opens in Shanghai, exploring paths to a more open global economy