Copyright and creative industries in the digital and intelligent era, with a focus on protecting cultural heritage and empowering innovation, is the theme of the 2026 International Copyright Forum, which opened in Dunhuang, Gansu province, on 2 November. Co-organised by China's National Copyright Administration (NCAC) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the three-day forum drew more than 400 participants, including copyright and culture officials from over 40 countries, IP and cultural counsellors from embassies and consulates in China, and copyright societies and collective management organisations.
Who spoke
The Governor of Gansu, WIPO Director General Daren Tang and a deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee addressed the opening. Keynote speakers at the main session included the president of the Copyright Society of China, a WIPO Deputy Director General, the head of Egypt's intellectual property office and a Tencent vice-president.
Participants said the creative economy offers development opportunities for many developing countries and emerging economies, and that global IP rules must keep evolving to balance technological development with creators' rights. According to the NCAC's report of the meeting, the parties also called for using copyright to protect cultural heritage, empower creative industries and promote exchanges between civilisations, and for jointly improving international copyright rules.
Two announcements
The forum released a set of "copyright + folk art + tourism" case projects and the "2026 China Good Copyright Stories". The official report does not list the individual cases.
Chinese participants included the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and provincial and municipal copyright bureaus. The forum was hosted by the Gansu Copyright Bureau, the Dunhuang municipal government and the Copyright Society of China.
Source: www.ncac.gov.cn
