ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA'S DRAMA PERFORMANCE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE "NATIONAL" DRAMA INDUSTRY. TAKING BEIJING PEOPLE'S ART THEATRE AND MAHUA FUNAGE AS EXAMPLES

Abstract

In the last decade, a series of plans and policies that had a significant impact on the development of Chinas drama industry have been adopted. One of these plans, The Ministry of Cultures Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Cultural Industries Development, proposed the development of theatrical performance by supporting the construction and renovation of theaters and other cultural consumption infrastructure, by guiding the social capital towards investing in cultural industries in various forms, and by promoting the technology of traditional cultural industries. The ideas and measures for the development of the cultural industry have greatly promoted the advancement of Chinas drama industry management. The article starts by presenting the development status and the specific issues of Chinas drama industry, and continues by exposing the corresponding measures taken by the state-owned and private enterprises to solve the problems. Taking Beijing Peoples Art Theatre and Mahua FunAge as examples, it further analyzes the development of theater operations.

Headnote

Abstract: In the last decade, a series of plans and policies that had a significant impact on the development of Chinas drama industry have been adopted. One of these plans, The Ministry of Cultures Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Cultural Industries Development, proposed the development of theatrical performance by supporting the construction and renovation of theaters and other cultural consumption infrastructure, by guiding the social capital towards investing in cultural industries in various forms, and by promoting the technology of traditional cultural industries. The ideas and measures for the development of the cultural industry have greatly promoted the advancement of Chinas drama industry management. The article starts by presenting the development status and the specific issues of Chinas drama industry, and continues by exposing the corresponding measures taken by the state-owned and private enterprises to solve the problems. Taking Beijing Peoples Art Theatre and Mahua FunAge as examples, it further analyzes the development of theater operations.

Keywords: drama industry, theatrical performance, private and stateowned theatrical enterprises.

l.Overview of the Development of Chinas Drama Industry

Chinas drama industry has continued its steady development in recent years. Drama groups have accelerated their integration and development with tourism, Internet, animation, urban planning, architectural design and other related industries, and new formats have been emerging. From the perspective of the theater industry mode, crossborder integration of theater performances and the use of novel formats have become the norm for theater companies.

In recent years, there has been an endless stream of theatre and performing arts products, such as the "Impression Series" and the "Romance of the Song Dynasty" show, which have received good response from the public1. Taking The Romance of The Song Dynasty as an example, one could say that once it was released in 2000, it became the soul of Hangzhou Songcheng cultural tourism, with approximately 10 million visitors and revenues of RMB 0.2 billion in 2000 alone2. In recent years, Gushuibei Town has developed a platform-type cultural space based on theater performance. The ingenious Great Wall Theater takes heaven and earth as the curtain and the Great Wall as the scenery among the mountains. It harmoniously places people, nature, and theatrical art on a unified platform. Drama master Tadashi Suzuki performed three ancient Dionysus Greek tragedies here, so that the Great Wall Theatre appeared in drama world instantly3. Historical relics and unique natural and cultural resources, which are difficult to copy, will become a personalized capital and cultural label of Gushuibei Town. At the same time, commercial real estate industry tried to integrate organically with the art of drama to create a "shopping mall + theater" or "commercial center + theater group" ensemble, such as Shanghai Metro City Lai Sheng Chuan Theater or Guangzhou Zhengjia Performing Arts Theater. As stated by Li Rui, official within the Cultural Market Department of the Ministry of Culture, "theatrical performances integrate emerging tourism performances, animation performances, and music festival performances, which not only enhances the product creation and operation model of theatrical performances, but also provides dramatic performances. Injected new cultural connotations expanded the financing channels for performances, promoted the brand concept of theater performances, and tapped the market potential."4

From the perspective of the technological development, the theater industry has a wider application of high-tech systems and elements, such as sound, light and electricity to perform the transformation of digital technological achievements into cultural and artistic creation tools, and to show virtual stage scenes in real stage performances5. Such endeavors not only enhance the effect of stage performance in all directions, but also improve significantly the stage control ability, a fact that has accelerated the development of the industrialization of drama technology in China. The use of digital technology has made the performance quite astonishing and the stage more dreamy and dazzling6, and some initiatives, such as the introduction of the musical The Phantom of the Theater, the adaptation of the stage play War Horse or the original drama Sima Qian have caused strong marketing responses, with a total ticket income in 2017 reaching USD 38 million from imported Western musical production alone7. The use of digital dancing has reached the realm of both realism and fantasy, as shown by the dance drama Peacock, with Ye Jintian's oriental poetic and aesthetic design and with the stage background adjusting to reflect the change of seasons, showing the beauty of the soul. With regard to the integration of art and technology, the theater industry still needs constant exploration and practice, and special attention must be paid to the cultivation of scientific and technological talents.

From the standpoint of the content of the theater industry, one could say that the style is more diversified and theater plays are mainly based on rehearsing classic repertoires8 and introducing foreign performances9. Among the plays, musicals are leading the way, with productions such as "The Ghost Story", "I., Don Quixote" or "One Step Up to the Sky". At the same time, in the pursuit of innovation and cultivating the audience, the small theater drama has become a breakthrough and has successfully attracted the attention of young audiences10, the Chinse comedy "Charlotte's Troubles" being a conclusive example. Opera performances, on the other side, are still based on traditional, classical shows with popular, famous indigenous artists. For example, the small theaters11 in Beijing and Shanghai have launched excellent opera programs such as Peking Opera "Guanyu Guanyin" and Yue Opera "Love Circumstances", which not only expand the influence of the drama in the hearts of the audience, but also receive the praise of the public. However, high-quality products with large attendance are mostly imported from abroad or adapted from classic repertoires. Original works are still lacking, several reasons for this situation being identified12: a first reason is related to the allocation of resources and operating capital of the companies which is small and cannot be virtually circulating; a second reason is that the quality of the indigenous productions is not high enough and goals of the plays are not clearly defined; the third reason refers to the fact that an "extensive" development similar to the manufacturing industry has emerged in China's drama industry, which is rather based on quantity that on quality. Although there are many indigenous production, they are rather hovering at the "low end" of the quality scale, therefore one could say that intellectual property products of high profits, high added value, and high-quality do not belong to the theater. Such a situation has limited the development of the theater itself, which has caused a series of problems. Given that, in the end, this situation is directly linked to data statistics, government support, human resources, and consumption capacity of China's drama industry, it results that it is an urgent problem to be solved.

From the perspective of the drama industry marketing mode, the new media provide an important platform for the promotion and development of the drama industry, mainly through WeChat, Weibo, Internet TV, digital broadcasting and other media. For example, marketing in the ticketing strategy provides viewers with more choices and more personalized services. In addition, crowd funding for performances has broken the traditional way of performing operations, and has become not only one of the important financing models for the theater industry, but also a marketing promotion method that is currently enthusiastic for producers. Based on the marketing model of performance crowd funding, a new way to provide audiences with customized services has emerged. However, although this marketing mode exerts a favorable influence on the development of the theater industry, it is nevertheless inconsistent with the purpose of crowd funding for current performances, which may be utilitarian. Therefore, relevant specialists are required to effectively identify good and poor marketing models in order to obtain favorable channels and promote the sustainable development of the theater industry.

2.Challenges Facing the Theatre Industry

In theatrical performances, statistical data, policies, resources, consumption and other issues are crucial problems that hinder the development of China's theater industry.

2.1The box office of theatrical performance is inaccurate, "big, but not strong"

The most direct way to measure the success of a theatrical performance and the popularity of a play is the box office result, although this approach might be misleading. According to statistics from the National Center for Cultural Industries Research13, during 2017, the total economic value of China's performance market was approximately RMB 48.951 billion, an increase of 4.32% compared to RMB 46.922 billion in 2016, including: box office performances, rural performances, entertainment performances, revenue from performance derivatives and sponsorships, supporting entities and other services, and government subsidies. From the perspective of big data, the cumulative operating capital of China's drama industry has grown rapidly, but an in-depth analysis reveals that there are deviations in the box office statistics of China's drama. Objectively speaking, the first deviation refers to the fact that the box office total income reflects the evolution of the theatrical performance indicators, but the value-added chain around the theater industry also includes: stage art project income, theater rental income, consumer goods income etc. At the same time, the box office income statistics result covers a large number of government subsidies, thus it is not a true reflection of the box office. From a subjective perspective, the main reason for the current market boom is still relying on the country's large financial input. A second deviation refers to the fact that China lacks a truly large state-owned performance enterprise. According to the analysis of China's Center for Cultural Industries Research, in the first quarter of 2017 alone, the national box office revenue of theater performances was as high as RMN 324 million, an increase by 20.9% or of RMN 56 million compared with the same period of 2016. This is a very interesting data sheet, with more than 10,000 practitioners contributing digital shares. However, the difference between the average base and the overall market is too large, and the industrial institutions are relatively weak, therefore it is impossible to form a strong cultural industry with drama at its core.

2.2 Government's blind subsidy squeezes the private theater market

The uneven distribution of art resources has led local governments to create cultural performance, promote the development of local cultural markets, enhance the mobility of the local cultural industry chain, and invest a large amount of money and, ultimately, allocate fiscal revenue to the drama industry. In such circumstances, a new phenomenon has appeared, with some institutions being extremely preoccupied with "financial subsidies" and devoting their main energy to "running" financial subsidies, thus lacking creative innovation and development. At the same time, many private theater companies consider that performances are difficult to do as they cannot get financial subsidies, therefore one could say that the market has been disrupted by the local government's financial means. As a result, private enterprises are in unfair conditions compared to "subsidized" enterprises, which have received financial subsidies. Taking into account the competition, one could say that private enterprises have been suppressed, and the market economy has been unreasonably regulated. Although the problem of unfair competition was partly solved in 2013, when the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee and other five ministries and commissions jointly issued a "thrift order", which suppressed the "false" prosperity of the theater performance market, and also tested the self-regulation and reform capabilities of theater performance groups14, the stability and fairness of the theater performance market are still to be improved.

2.3 Lack of professional management and technical personnel

The lack of talents and theatrical professionalism are the biggest problems the theatrical performance crews are faced with. Taking only theater management as an example, it could certainly be said that a theater is a complex art institution, therefore the internal management of a theater is complicated. The stage management alone involves four aspects: lighting, sound, technology, and overall planning, yet a theater involves many other extremely complex parts and processes. For instance, the Beijing-located National Grand Theater of China (the National Centre for the Performing Arts) has a relatively complicated structure, with 21 major departments, 17 professional systems, 118 branch groups, and 112 majors. With China hosting a total of 2,478 modern theaters in 2019, many of them constructed in the last years, and with theaters with advanced equipment blooming across China, as Chen Ping, former president of the National Center for the Performing Arts stated15, it seems that construction is not the problem, yet management is.

Looking at China's drama industry, the problem of lack of talent, especially the lack of senior management talents, is particularly prominent, seriously affecting the development of genuine chain of drama industry and even hindering the advancement of the domestic drama industry. The China's Ministry of Culture's Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Cultural Industries Development clearly states that responsible institutions will conduct rotation training for the leading cadres of the National Academy of Arts and Culture to instruct 1,000 drama writers, directors, and stage artists16.

Key talents in specific fields such as arts and crafts should assume responsibility in the demonstration and stimulation of artistic creation and production, should inspire and encourage the potential of the industry, and should achieve the prosperity and development of drama art.

2.4The potential for theater performance consumption needs to be explored

In terms of content production, theatrical performance has always been no less than the scale of the film and television industry, yet in terms of theater, theater lines, consumer groups etc., the rate of improvement has lagged behind the film and television output. According to various statistics and analysis, in 2017, the Beijing People's Art Theater alone had 400 performances and box office revenues of more than RMB 48 million17. It can be seen that China's drama performance has a large market consumption potential and this potential should be effectively tapped. In large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, as well as in new cities that are gradually developing, consumer groups (especially formed of young individuals) have gradually strengthened their consumption concepts and economic weight, adding consumer support to the drama sector. However, the uneven distribution of art resources still constrains consumption in medium-sized cities. Although many cities have built modern theaters, there are often facilities without performances and performances without quality. If the problem of excessive concentration of artistic resources in big cities is not resolved in the future, luxury facilities might become empty cultural "bubble projects".

3.The Beijing People's Art Theatre and Mahua FunAge as examples of the development of theater operations

For a long period of time, the development of theatrical performances in China has encountered a bottleneck. Faced with this situation, both the state-owned enterprises and the privately-run theater camps have implemented reform measures in line with their own development lines. Chinese state-companies such as Beijing Performing Arts Group, Anhui Performing Arts Group, and People's Art Theatre have carried out corporate reforms that fit national policies and have adopted novel ideas. At the same time, starting from their own drama group system, private theaters such as Mahua FunAge, Shanxi Chang'e Culture and Art Co Ltd, and Shanghai Xuhui Yanping Peking Opera Troupe have focused on innovation and have been taking a different approach in order to meet the public's expectations. For an understanding of the development and operation of the theater industry in China, the examples of the Beijing People's Art Theatre and Mahua FunAge are quite relevant.

3.1 Beijing People's Art Theatre

Although China has officially carried out a systemic reform of the theater industry, from a fundamental point of view the transfer of stateowned arts and cultural academies and institutions to private enterprises is only a formal reform, which has not solved the difficulties of the stateowned cultural entities. The Beijing People's Art Theatre does not fall into the scope of China's "enterprise reform and restructuring"18, yet not restructuring does not mean inaction. The Beijing Theatre placed a great emphasis on high-quality drama content, adopted the "driving force mechanism of reform"19 slogan, and quickly implemented a series of mechanism reforms, mainly focusing on small theater producers, dance development models, actor assessment, creation, development cooperation, etc., and launched "field", "love impression" and other outstanding representations. Drama as a genre plays a positive role in implementing the reform of China's drama industry and enriching the content of drama art20. Since the beginning of its transformation, the Beijing Theatre has achieved a record of RMN 50 million box office revenues through the steady measures of "walking in small steps", which has completely opened the industry market.

When analyzing the results of the reforms of small theaters, with a focus on the assessment of producers, actors, and brokers, one should take into account the importance of maintaining the smooth operation of the theater, the continuous update of the theater's content, and the improvement of the level of interpretation. Such elements not only develop the potential of the theater, but also provide audiences with more outstanding and "fresh" dramatic works, to enrich the public's vision. Ren Ming21, director of the Arts Council of Beijing People's Art Theatre, pays attention to capitalizing on the new performance opportunities and on the strengths of personnel and focuses on inspiring "potential stocks", that is, mature actors, because of their strong awareness and exquisite talents, being capable of examining the performing arts from a deep perspective and of having rich performances. Experience can be extremely important in both the career of a director and the activity of a theater, and, through practice, dramatic works can achieve remarkable results, an example here being Yang Lixin's "The Alley of Xiaojing"22.

Besides its focus on people, Beijing People's Art Theatre vigorously cultivates and encourages outstanding small theater producers to discover new repertoires, provide excellent economic consultants, nurture exceptional performing talents, and improve their own strengths from the inside.

At the same time, Beijing People's Art Theatre does not neglect the expansion and improvement of external platforms, which are based on three essential aspects of strategic cooperation, performance development, and cross-border actions enhancement. In this process, the Beijing Theatre adhered to the strategic principles of cooperation, innovation and development, relying on modern technology, actively cooperating with many public performance service platforms, carrying out cross-border creations in many fields, and successfully completing the brand transformation of the theater. Through such actions, the image of the theatre has been significantly improved. Taking the Beijing Theater Operation Service Platform as an example, in 2017, the theater platform launched 107 shows with 200 outstanding performances, attracting about i6o,ooo audiences to enter the theater. The organizer of this non-profit performance platform is the Beijing Municipal Cultural Bureau, which wanted to develop a government procurement program, i.e., "the government paid to procure theatre resources and rent them out at little or no cost to art groups so as to provide theatre access for some of the best stage works"23. Through the combination of overall operations and publicity and marketing strategies, it has gained greater development space. According to relevant statistics, the Beijing Theater Operation Service Platform performed at a high attendance rate of 79.6% throughout the year 2017, with a cumulative box office revenue of more than RMN 23 million, becoming a leader in the industry24.

3.2 Mahua FunAge

Mahua FunAge (hereinafter referred to as Mahua), a private company, first created the concept of "Happy New Year Stage Play" in 2oo3. In the following ten years, it quickly became a cultural hotspot in Beijing, being followed by many young people and growing into a domestic business, one of the best drama brands in the drama market25. In 2017, Mahua hit a new peak of more than RMN 2.2 billion at the box office sales of "Shame Tekken", with revenue up by 181.6% and a net profit up by 422.6% year-on-year26.

Nevertheless, initially, the registered capital of Mahua was only RMN 300,000, and the company had no significant box office experience. Its success stems from a commitment to creative style. In terms of creativity, Mahua has a precise positioning as it adheres to a novel and unique comedy style, changes the profound design of traditional drama interpretation into an educational and entertaining form, focuses on the daily lives of ordinary people, and intelligently takes stock of current social events, which arouses the empathy and resonances of audience. Some of their productions, such as "Somali Pirates", "Earl of Oolong Mountain", "Clown Loves Beautiful" etc., have become the personality label of Mahua, attracting a large number of young people. In addition, Mahua focuses its activity on team creation, as Liu Hongtao, General Manager of Mahua described the production process: the screenwriter puts forward an idea, the idea leads to an outline and stimulates the actors, and everyone discusses each step together; finally, the personality of the characters is designed according to the characteristics and strengths of the actors27.

Mahua is mainly performed in large theaters such as the Haidian Theater, the 21st Century Theater, and the People's Liberation Army Opera House. From the perspective of the business development mode, Mahua usually invests more than 40% of a play in publicity and carries out comprehensive and three-dimensional publicity and marketing based on channels such as TV stations, magazines, and the Internet. At the same time, Mahua adopts a very efficient commercial launch strategy, promoting its shows and plays through advertising intervention well before the production is ready to be released. This marketing strategy has brought considerable benefits to Mahua FunAge and played a positive role in promoting its development. In recent years, comedy has almost accounted for more than 80% of drama performances, and high box office movies have also been labeled as comedy, Mahua FunAge having a very important role in this development.

Looking at the successes of Mahua FunAge and Beijing People's Art Theatre, one could identify slight differences. Although Mahua FunAge also activates based on the policy of the new era, the focus is not on the operation of the troupe itself, but on innovative plays. This innovative strategy is not only in line with current consumption trends, but also with national supportive policies, as suggested by the decision of the China Cultural Industry Investment Fund to invest in Mahua shares at a price of RMN 46.92 / share, thus laying the foundation for the later listing of Mahua on the New Third Board Market28.

Conclusion

While the development of China's drama industry is evolving at a relatively stable pace, it is nevertheless faced with many challenges and affected by the impact of multiculturalism. Based on the analysis of the operation and development of Beijing People's Art Theatre and Mahua FunAge, one could say that if China's theater performance operations are to flourish, the drama industry protagonists must conform to the requirements and characteristics of the times, rely on the new industrial chain structure, and combine new technologies and innovation as the core driving force. Therefore, any endeavor of improving the sector should start from the current development situation of the theater industry, yet aiming at carrying forward both traditional culture and innovative productions and at changing the industry's chain from production to sales. Such objectives are both relevant and necessary for solving the difficulties and bringing real value in the theater industry.

Footnote

1 Zhou R., Xiaofeng S., "Nightly feasts of sights and sounds for visitors looking for thrills", China Daily, 2016, retrieved online from: https://bit.ly/3dPuC2r.

2 Song H., Cheung C., "What makes theatrical performances successful in China's tourism industry?", Journal of China Tourism Research, 2012, 8(2): 159-173.

3 Tadashi S., "Some thoughts on drama and actors", Shanghai Theatre, 2018 (04): 41-43 (in Chinese).

4 Yang H., "The Leapfrog Development of China's Performance Market over Five Years: Internationalization Trends are More Visible", China Culture News, 2012, retrieved online from: https://bit.ly/2xPXiHZ (in Chinese).

5 Ye, D., "The Formation and Development of the Narrative Design Conception of Dramatic Dance under the Evolution of Technology", Sichuan Drama, 2018 (08): 20-25 (in Chinese).

6 Fu, M., "Panoramic Scroll and Three-dimensional Presentation of Chinese Drama in the 20th Century: A Review of Fu Jin's «History of Chinese Drama in the 20th Century»", Southern Literature Circle, 2018 (04): 91-95 (in Chinese).

7 "A look at imported Western musicals in China", China Stage Connection, retrieved online from: https://bit.ly/2UWAuy5.

8 Ma G., "On the Homogeneous Performance form of Chinese Classical Drama, Drama (Journal of the Central Academy of Drama), 2018 (03): 105-116 (in Chinese).

9 Han, X., "The development direction of Chinese drama in the context of the market", Music Creation, 2018 (03): 117-119 (in Chinese).

10 Hu, Y., "On Three Types of Companion Texts in Drama Performances", Sichuan Drama, 2018 (06): 15-20 (in Chinese).

11 Lu, J., "Research on the Operation of the Beijing Fengxing Drama Village, a Small Private Theater", Tianjin Conservatory of Music, 2018.

12Xu, T., "Developmental Status of China's Cultural Industry", pp. 145-165, in Jiang C., Li J., Xu T. Yang (Eds.), Development of China's Cultural Industry, Beijing: Springer and Social Sciences Academic Press, 2019.

13China Statistical Yearbook on Culture and Related Industries, National Bureau of Statistics of China and Publicity Department of CPC Central Committee, China Statistics Press, 2018.

14Zhao, P., "The Central Propaganda Department and other five departments issued a notice to stop luxury and promote frugality", Jinghua Times, 2013, retrieved online from: https://bit.ly/3bXZXhJ (in Chinese).

15 Xia, L., "China home to nearly 2,500 modern theaters", Xinhua Net, retrieved online from: https://bit.ly/2X8akvg.

16 Cultural industry development plan in the "13th Five-Year Plan" of Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of People's Republic of China, 2017, retrieved online (in Chinese) from: https://bit.ly/2R8AdXQ.

17 China Statistical Yearbook on Culture and Related Industries, 2018.

18 Zu, L., Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Restructuring and Firm's Performance. Empirical Evidence from Chinese Enterprises, Berlin and Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 2009.

19 Zhang, Y., China's Economic Reform: Experience and Implications, New York: Routledge, 2018.

20 Wang X. "From Absolute to Alienation: the «National» Writings of Xia Yan Drama in the 1930s", Sichuan Drama, 2017 (05): 28-32 (in Chinese).

21 Qi S., Adapting Western Classics for the Chinese Stage, New York, Routledge, 2019.

22 "Director of the classic «Koi Alley» resounds that it is not easy to discharge Beijing flavour", interview with Yang Lixin, CCTV.com, 2018, retrieved online from: https://bit.ly/2xNY8Vw.

23 "Research Report for Performing Art Theatres Professional Development Skills and Higher Education Needs in China", British Council China, Theatre Management Department, Central Academy of Drama, June 2016:15, retrieved online from: https://bit.ly/2R92L.jP.

24 China Statistical Yearbook on Culture and Related Industries, 2018.

25 Xiao, H.F., Youth Economy, Crisis, and Reinvention in Twenty-First-Century China. Morning Sun in the Tiny Times, New York: Routledge, 2020.

26 China Statistical Yearbook on Culture and Related Industries, 2018.

27 Lu, Q., "From stage to net", Global Times, 2012, retrieved online from: https://bit.ly/2XbkhI7.

28 Liu, R., "Curtain Rising on Theater Investment", CNBC, 2013, retrieved online from: https://cnb.cx/2V2zgBk.

References

References

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*·· "Director of the classic «Koi Alley» resounds that it is not easy to discharge Beijing flavour", interview with Yang Lixin, CCTV.com, 2018, retrieved online from: https://bit.ly/2xNY8Vw.

*·· "Research Report for Performing Art Theatres Professional Development Skills and Higher Education Needs in China", British Council China, Theatre Management Department, Central Academy of Drama, June 2016:15, retrieved online from: https://bit.ly/2R92LjP.

*·· China Statistical Yearbook on Culture and Related Industries, National Bureau of Statistics of China and Publicity Department of CPC Central Committee, China Statistics Press, 2018.

*·· Cultural industry development plan in the "13th Five-Year Plan" of Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of People's Republic of China, 2017, retrieved online (in Chinese) from: https://bit.ly/2R8AdXQ.

Fu, M., "Panoramic Scroll and Three-dimensional Presentation of Chinese Drama in the 20th Century: A Review of Fu Jin's «History of Chinese Drama in the 20th Century»", Southern Literature Circle, 2018 (04): 91-95 (in Chinese).

Han, X., "The development direction of Chinese drama in the context of the market", Music Creation, 2018 (03): 117-119 (in Chinese).

Hu, Y., "On Three Types of Companion Texts in Drama Performances", Sichuan Drama, 2018 (06): 15-20 (in Chinese).

Liu, R., "Curtain Rising on Theater Investment", CNBC, 2013, retrieved online from: https://cnb.cx/2V2zgBk.

Lu, J., "Research on the Operation of the Beijing Fengxing Drama Village, a Small Private Theater", Tianjin Conservatory of Music, 2018.

Lu, Q., "From stage to net", Global Times, 2012, retrieved online from: https://bit.ly/2XbkhI7.

Ma, G., "On the Homogeneous Performance form of Chinese Classical Drama, Drama (Journal of the Central Academy of Drama), 2018 (03): 105-116 (in Chinese).

Qi, S., (2019), Adapting Western Classics for the Chinese Stage, New York, Routledge.

Song, H., Cheung C., "What makes theatrical performances successful in China's tourism industry?", Journal of China Tourism Research, 2012, 8(2): 159-173.

Tadashi, S., "Some thoughts on drama and actors", Shanghai Theatre, 2018 (04): 41-43 (in Chinese).

Wang, X. "From Absolute to Alienation: the «National» Writings of Xia Yan Drama in the 1930s", Sichuan Drama, 2017 (05): 28-32 (in Chinese).

Xia, L., "China home to nearly 2,500 modern theaters", Xinhua Net, retrieved online from: https://bit.ly/2X8akvg.

Xiao, H.F., (2020), Youth Economy, Crisis, and Reinvention in Twenty-First-Century China. Morning Sun in the Tiny Times, New York: Routledge.

Xu, T., (2019), "Developmental Status of China's Cultural Industry", pp. 145-165, in Jiang C., Li J., Xu T. Yang (Eds.), Development of China's Cultural Industry, Beijing: Springer and Social Sciences Academic Press.

Yang, H., "The Leapfrog Development of China's Performance Market over Five Years: Internationalization Trends are More Visible", China Culture News, 2012, retrieved online from: https://bit.ly/2xPXiHZ (in Chinese).

Ye, D., "The Formation and Development of the Narrative Design Conception of Dramatic Dance under the Evolution of Technology", Sichuan Drama, 2018 (08): 20-25 (in Chinese).

Zhang, Y., (2018), China's Economic Reform: Experience and Implications, New York: Routledge.

Zhao, P., "The Central Propaganda Department and other five departments issued a notice to stop luxury and promote frugality", Jinghua Times, 2013, retrieved online from: https://bit.ly/3bXZXhJ (in Chinese).

Zhou, R., Xiaofeng S., "Nightly feasts of sights and sounds for visitors looking for thrills", China Daily, 2016, retrieved online from: https://bit.ly/3dPuC2r.

Zu, L., (2009), Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Restructuring and Firm's Performance. Empirical Evidence from Chinese Enterprises, Berlin and Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.