A forum on the cultural development of Zhejiang's characteristic towns took place in Dayun, Jiashan county, on Dec 7.

Sponsored by Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture, the two-day event attracted representatives of the province's 35 characteristic towns to share their insights into the region's development.

According to authorities, a characteristic town is a developing platform dependent on local industrial resources, such as culture, tourism and manufacturing. Zhejiang has highlighted its numerous characteristic towns since the campaign was initiated in 2014. The province established an office dedicated to the planning and building of small towns, while also establishing a complete assessment system.

Zhang Xiaoming, former executive vice-director of the Research Center for Cultural Policies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, proposed quality, taste and brand as key concepts for a valuable characteristic town.

Quality is primarily concerned with initial investment, planning and construction of infrastructure, while taste and brand are more closely linked to culture. "Characteristic towns will help promote transformation, characteristic urbanization and cultural consumption," Zhang said.

Sun Yidong, a professor at Zhejiang University of Technology, said that he researched a number of characteristic towns and found their planning to be similar. Some towns, he noted, failed to preserve their culture.

According to Zhejiang's department of culture, the minimal influence of cultural administrations in the past has brought down some characteristic towns. In 2016, the department selected 20 provincial towns for cultural construction, and culture now plays an integral role in developing such towns.

"Culture can benefit the towns and, in return, these characteristic towns will boost cultural development. We can achieve a win-win result," said Luo Wei, director of the policy and regulation division of Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture.