The 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Advertising Industry: Coordinate Digital-Intelligent Transformation and Drive All-Round Innovation in Advertising Formats

Title context: The 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Advertising Industry: Coordinate Digital-Intelligent Transformation and Drive All-Round Innovation in Advertising Formats Text: Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation and six other departments jointly issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Advertising Industry. The Plan proposes that by 2030, the scale of the advertising industry will grow at an average annual rate of about 10%, and the development quality of business entities will continue to improve; investment in industrial R&D and creativity will continue to increase, and the level of digital-intelligent development will rise significantly; advertising will provide stronger support for industrial upgrading and consumption stimulation, and the march toward "brand globalization" will be advanced; large, medium, and small enterprises will achieve integrated development, upstream and downstream of the industrial chain will engage in deep collaboration, and new breakthroughs will be made in coordinated regional development; the quality of advertising works will improve significantly, and the mechanism for creating and disseminating public service advertisements will become more robust; advertising laws and regulations will be further improved, regulatory and enforcement effectiveness will rise markedly, and public satisfaction will continue to increase. The Plan sets out five key tasks. First, innovation-driven development: coordinate digital-intelligent transformation, entity cultivation, creativity enhancement, and talent training; drive all-round innovation in advertising technology, content, models, and business formats; and improve the core competitiveness of the industry. Second, integrated empowerment: deepen the integration of advertising with manufacturing, comprehensive rural revitalization, other service industries, and consumption promotion, and enhance the ability of the advertising industry to serve the real economy. Third, coordinated opening-up: support all regions in following development paths suited to local conditions that are distinctive and specialized, and support clustered industrial development; support advertising and brands in going global together, and deepen international exchanges and cooperation. Fourth, value as the soul: strengthen the supply of high-quality public service advertisements, improve the investment mechanism for the creation and dissemination of public service advertisements, pool diverse forces for public service advertisements, and promote the development of premium public service advertisements. Fifth, efficient governance: uphold both regulatory standardization and development promotion, improve the advertising regulatory system, refine the multi-party co-governance regulatory mechanism, and actively advance the development of the advertising standards system. Next, the State Administration for Market Regulation and other departments will strengthen coordination and cooperation, reinforce comprehensive policy measures, and enhance dynamic monitoring, mid-term evaluation, and summary evaluation of the Plan's implementation, so as to ensure that all key tasks are implemented and that the advertising industry achieves higher-quality development. The full text is as follows: Notice of the State Administration for Market Regulation and Six Other Departments on Issuing the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Advertising Industry To the market regulation bureaus (departments, commissions) of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; the cyberspace administration offices of Party committees; the culture and tourism departments (bureaus); the education departments (commissions); the public security departments (bureaus); the competent commerce departments; and the radio and television bureaus; and to the market regulation bureau, cyberspace administration office of the Party committee, culture, sports, radio, television and tourism bureau, education bureau, public security bureau, and competent commerce department of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps: The 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Advertising Industry is hereby issued to you. Please implement it conscientiously in light of actual conditions. Interpretation of the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Advertising Industry A few days ago, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Commerce, and the National Radio and Television Administration jointly issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Advertising Industry (hereinafter referred to as the Plan). The relevant content is interpreted as follows: I. What is the overall development status of China's advertising industry? In recent years, the scale of China's advertising industry has expanded rapidly, quality and efficiency have improved significantly, and the foundation for high-quality development has been further consolidated. First, the industrial scale has achieved a leap. Advertising business revenue of public institutions and enterprises above designated size nationwide exceeded 2 trillion yuan, doubling during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Thirty national advertising industry parks and a number of provincial-level advertising industry parks have been built, showing a clear trend of industrial clustering. Second, innovation-driven development has continued to strengthen. Digital transformation has advanced in depth, with internet advertising revenue accounting for 89.1% of advertising revenue across all media. The supply of creative advertising has continued to enrich, effectively playing a role in shaping brand images and spreading advanced culture. Third, integrated development has become more prominent. "Advertising helps enterprises" and "advertising helps agriculture" have achieved remarkable results, with a clear employment-creation effect, and public service advertisements have effectively promoted the building of socialist spiritual civilization. Fourth, breakthroughs have been made in spatial layout. A coordinated development mechanism centered on major regional strategies has basically been established, cross-border advertising service capabilities have improved, and China brands have been effectively helped to "go global." Fifth, the business environment has continued to improve. Advertising review for "three products and one device" has fully achieved online handling throughout the process and "cross-provincial handling," the advertising monitoring system operates efficiently, advertising governance in livelihood areas has achieved remarkable results, and the foundation for the long-term healthy development of the industry has become more solid. II. What new circumstances does China's advertising industry face? During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the development environment of the advertising industry will undergo profound and complex changes, facing new opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, strategies such as building a manufacturing powerhouse, a quality powerhouse, and a cultural powerhouse are being implemented in depth, and the expansion and quality improvement of the service industry are accelerating, further strengthening the era mission of the advertising industry to serve the overall national interest and empower all industries; the foundation of the real economy is constantly being consolidated, and the modern industrial system is being built at a faster pace, laying a solid foundation for the advertising industry to deepen integrated development; digital-intelligent technologies are penetrating comprehensively, driving innovation in the development model of the advertising industry and efficiency improvements, and injecting strong momentum into the transformation of the advertising industry; the strategy of expanding domestic demand is being advanced in depth, and demand for brand marketing, scenario cultivation, and other areas continues to be released, expanding broad space for advertising services; the building of a unified national market and high-level opening-up are being advanced in tandem, creating a favorable development environment for the advertising industry to use both domestic and international markets and resources, enhance its level, and improve its innovation capacity. On the other hand, accelerated technological iteration brings new governance challenges such as data security, content generation, and algorithm ethics; the external environment is becoming increasingly complex, and uncertainty regarding the advertising industry's "going global" has further increased; effective domestic demand is insufficient, and small and medium-sized advertising enterprises face greater pressure to survive and develop. At the same time, we must also see that core shortcomings in the industry still exist, and breakthroughs still need to be accelerated in areas such as enhancing innovation capacity, improving originality, cultivating leading enterprises and independent brands, and coordinated regional development. III. What are the development goals of the advertising industry during the 15th Five-Year Plan period? The 15th Five-Year Plan period is a key period for consolidating the foundation and making comprehensive efforts toward basically realizing socialist modernization, and also a key stage for the advertising industry to comprehensively improve its development level and comprehensively enhance its ability to serve national strategies. The Plan grasps the strategic opportunity period for the development of the advertising industry and sets the following development goals. First, scale and strength will reach a new level, with the scale of the advertising industry growing at an average annual rate of about 10%, and the development quality of business entities continuing to improve. Second, the level of innovation will achieve a new leap, with investment in industrial R&D and creativity continuing to increase, and the level of digital-intelligent development rising significantly. Third, new results will be shown in empowering the real economy, with advertising providing stronger support for industrial upgrading and consumption stimulation, and the march toward "brand globalization" being advanced. Fourth, the industrial ecosystem will take on a new outlook, with large, medium, and small enterprises achieving integrated development, deep collaboration across the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, and new breakthroughs in coordinated regional development. Fifth, social value will be expanded in new ways, with the quality of advertising works improving significantly, a number of premium advertisements that demonstrate cultural confidence and tell China's story emerging, and the mechanism for creating and disseminating public service advertisements becoming more robust. Sixth, governance effectiveness will reach a new level, with advertising laws and regulations further improved, regulatory and enforcement effectiveness rising significantly, and public satisfaction continuing to increase. IV. What key tasks does the Plan propose? Centering on the development goals of the advertising industry during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the Plan systematically proposes five key tasks. First, innovation-driven development: coordinate digital-intelligent transformation, entity cultivation, creativity enhancement, and talent training; drive all-round innovation in advertising technology, content, models, and business formats; and improve the core competitiveness of the industry. Second, integrated empowerment: drawing on useful experience from the 14th Five-Year Plan period, deepen the integration of advertising with manufacturing, comprehensive rural revitalization, other service industries, consumption promotion, and other fields, and enhance the ability of the advertising industry to serve the real economy. Third, coordinated opening-up: in response to the unbalanced development of the advertising industry, propose deepening linkage among major strategic regions; support all regions in following development paths suited to local conditions that are distinctive and specialized, and support clustered industrial development. In response to internationalization trends, support advertising and brands in going global together, and deepen international exchanges and cooperation. Fourth, value as the soul: strengthen the supply of high-quality public service advertisements, improve the investment mechanism for the creation and dissemination of public service advertisements, pool diverse forces for public service advertisements, carry out the "Public Service Advertising Quality Improvement Action," and promote the development of premium public service advertisements. Fifth, efficient governance: uphold both regulatory standardization and development promotion, improve the advertising regulatory system, refine the multi-party co-governance regulatory mechanism, strengthen the linkage between administrative enforcement and criminal justice, carry out joint disciplinary action, and actively advance the development of the advertising standards system. V. How will the Plan further advance innovation and upgrading in the advertising industry? Facing the wave of digital-intelligent development, the Plan takes innovation-driven development as its first task, coordinates innovative development and standardized governance, and advances the digital-intelligent transformation and upgrading of the advertising industry across the entire chain. On the one hand, it supports the development of underlying technologies and data resources, encourages the R&D of intelligent agents and lightweight large-model tools for the advertising industry, and enriches the supply of digital-intelligent advertising products; on the other hand, it strengthens the innovative application of technologies such as artificial intelligence, reinforces smart regulation, standardizes the development of AI-generated advertising, and achieves integrated advancement of technological innovation and industry governance. In addition, the Plan deploys key work such as cultivating advertising business entities, enhancing advertising creativity, and training advertising talent. For example, it supports eligible advertising enterprises in applying to be recognized as specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises; encourages the use of technologies such as artificial intelligence to promote the innovative transformation of cultural elements and expand the supply of high-quality advertising; and supports qualified regular higher education institutions and vocational colleges in strengthening the development of advertising-related majors, developing interdisciplinary majors related to advertising digital-intelligence, and cultivating compound talents who understand both technology and creativity. VI. What arrangements does the Plan make for the development of public service advertisements? Public service advertisements are an important form of communication distinct from commercial advertising and an important carrier for promoting advanced ideology and culture. The Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that the state encourages and supports public service advertising activities, disseminates core socialist values, and advocates civilized trends. To implement the relevant provisions, the Plan deploys the implementation of the "Public Service Advertising Quality Improvement Action." In terms of institutional development, the Plan focuses on coordination and collaboration, establishes a multi-department consultation and assessment mechanism, strengthens cross-field and cross-department linkage, and, by regularly assessing industry trends and releasing major creative themes, firmly grasps the correct publicity orientation of public service advertisements and consolidates the foundation for standardized development. In terms of content creation, it organizes premium creations around themes such as Chinese-style modernization, core socialist values, and civic morality development, promotes public service advertisements that balance domestic value guidance and international communication empowerment, and helps tell China's story well. In terms of dissemination channels, based on the all-media communication landscape, it connects print media, radio and television, and new media channels, builds a full-domain communication matrix, and continuously expands the coverage of public service advertisement dissemination. At the same time, the Plan promotes joint innovative research by government, enterprises, universities, and media, improves the public service advertisement works database, actively advocates participation by the public, various enterprises, and industry organizations in public service advertising activities, and enhances the value guidance, cultural communication, and social influence of public service advertisements. VII. How can the advertising industry better serve the development of the real economy during the 15th Five-Year Plan period? Advertising belongs to the producer services industry, and the vitality of the advertising industry lies in its service to and promotion of other industries. The Plan deploys the implementation of the "Advertising+" action, oriented toward deep integration and with "one policy for each industry" for precise empowerment, to comprehensively improve the effectiveness of advertising in serving the real economy. In serving the upgrading of manufacturing, high-quality advertising will help manufacturing increase varieties, improve quality, and create brands, and accelerate the market-oriented development of emerging industries and future industries. In serving comprehensive rural revitalization, actions such as "advertising helps agriculture," "brands strengthen agriculture," and "digital commerce promotes agriculture" will continue to be deepened, helping build a beautiful countryside that is livable and conducive to work. In promoting the expansion and quality improvement of the service industry, full-chain services will be provided for producer services, advertising service models will be innovated for consumer services, and a number of "China Services" brands with international influence will be helped to be built. In stimulating the release of consumer vitality, the important role of advertising in brand design, reputation promotion, and image maintenance will be fully leveraged to enhance the consumer vitality of domestic trendy brands and "first launches, first stores, first shows, and first exhibitions," support the channeling of high-quality advertising resources to lower-tier markets, and expand county-level and rural consumer markets. VIII. How will the organization and implementation of the Plan be carried out? The Plan upholds and strengthens the Party's overall leadership over the development of the advertising industry and runs Party leadership through all fields and the entire process of plan implementation. The State Administration for Market Regulation and other departments will strengthen coordination and cooperation and advance the organization and implementation of the Plan through various means. First, strengthen overall coordination: relevant departments will enhance cross-department linkage, promote the incorporation of the advertising industry into the overall layout of local economic and social development, and make good use of policies in fields such as finance, land, talent, investment, data, and security to support the development of the advertising industry. Second, encourage pilot trials: for major measures and innovative policies determined in the Plan, support qualified localities in carrying out pilot exploration and summarize and promote replicable experience. Third, strengthen monitoring and evaluation: improve the statistical monitoring system, enhance dynamic monitoring, mid-term evaluation, and summary evaluation of plan implementation, optimize policy measures in a timely manner, and ensure that the plan's objectives and tasks are implemented. This article is edited from the official website of the "State Administration for Market Regulation." Edited by GMTEight: Jiang Yuanhua.