Margaret Fong, executive director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, speaks via video link at the Digital Cultural Trade Summit Forum held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province on Monday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Zhejiang province and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will further their collaborative efforts in the digital cultural trade, an official at the Digital Cultural Trade Summit Forum said on Monday at the Hangzhou International Expo Center.

"Zhejiang and Hong Kong have always had close cooperation in the field of culture. As one of the most active regions for the mainland film and television industry, Zhejiang has set up a pavilion at the Hong Kong International Film and Television Fair this year to showcase its film achievements in recent years," said Margaret Fong, executive director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

Zhejiang enterprises have also supported and participated in cultural events such as the Hong Kong International Licensing Show and Business of Intellectual Property (BIP) Asia Forum for many years, successfully expanding into overseas markets, she added.

At the forum, held during the ongoing First Global Digital Trade Expo, the Hangzhou municipal bureau of commerce and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council signed a memorandum of cooperation for further development of Hangzhou and Hong Kong's service industries.

A cultural and artistic digital strategic cooperation agreement was also signed at the event by the Art Development Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the China Internet Information Center, to promote the application of technology in such fields as cultural creation, production, transmission and consumption.

In 2021, the total import and export volume of China's digital cultural trade was about $53.78 billion, according to a research report on the development of digital cultural trade released by the China Institute of Trade in Services at Beijing International Studies University.

Fang Xiaoying in Hangzhou contributed to this story.