"Improved" censorship, less restrictions in TV & film could help sell more TV sets, says Li Dongsheng
One of China's largest TV manufacturers says China's shrinking TV market and turn-on rate is more pronounced than the U.S. and Europe because the Chinese content is just not attractive.
In a proactively publicized proposal at the Second Session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) that concluded not long ago, TCL founder and chairman Li Dongsheng, an NPC deputy for 22 consecutive years, discussed the challenges and opportunities within China's high-definition display industry. Li highlighted the significant advancements China has made in the high-definition display sector, making the world’s second-largest, second-most populous economy a competitive player on the global stage.
Despite these achievements, Li pointed out the shrinkage of China's TV market, a trend more pronounced than in the U.S. and Europe, primarily due to the unattractiveness of Chinese TV and film content. He emphasized that improving the censorship process and reducing restrictions on TV and film content could enhance content attractiveness, thereby helping to reverse the decline in TV set sales. His suggestions aimed at optimizing the policy environment for the cultural film and television industry, encouraging non-governmental capital investment, and leveraging new technologies to innovate content forms and models, highlight a strategic approach to revitalizing the industry.
Below is a report via 每日经济新闻 National Business Daily on one of the more interesting proposals in the NPC session.
On the morning of March 5th, the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) opened. This year, TCL founder and chairman Li Dongsheng, as a deputy to the NPC, brought four proposals to Beijing, marking his 22nd consecutive year in this role.
Li Dongsheng's annual proposals primarily revolve around hot topics, key points, and difficulties in industries, sectors, and livelihoods. This year, he has put forward four proposals: "Suggestions on Promoting High-Quality Development of China's High-Definition Display Industry," "Suggestions on Further Improving the Financing Environment for Science and Technology Manufacturing Industries," "Suggestions on Reducing Legal Barriers to Legitimate Defense," and "Suggestions on Completely Eliminating the Deductible Line for Outpatient Reimbursement at Grassroots Medical Institutions," continuing to focus on industrial development and livelihood topics.
Before heading to Beijing, Li Dongsheng had a face-to-face conversation with a reporter from the 每日经济新闻 National Business Daily in Shenzhen. He mentioned that in recent years, China has invested heavily in the high-definition display sector, making significant progress in high-definition display products, artificial intelligence technology, and display product technology. It can be said that China has enough competitiveness in the high-definition display industry. However, on the other hand, China's TV market is shrinking. He hopes that his proposal will draw attention from all parties to collectively address this issue.
With the commercial application of 5G and the promotion of ultra-high-definition display technology, China's ultra-high-definition industry has seen rapid development in recent years. Five years ago, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Radio and Television Administration, and China Media Group jointly released the 《超高清视频产业发展行动计划(2019—2022年)》"Ultra-High Definition Video Industry Development Action Plan (2019-2022)." The action plan stated that by 2022, the overall scale of China's ultra-high-definition industry is expected to exceed 4 trillion yuan, with the number of ultra-high-definition video users reaching 200 million.
The "Ultra-High Definition Video Industry Development White Paper (2023)" released by the China Center for Information Industry Development shows that by the end of 2022, the scale of China's ultra-high-definition video industry had exceeded 3 trillion yuan. This data indicates the rapid development of China's ultra-high-definition video industry in recent years.
Li Dongsheng's proposal at this year's Two Sessions also mentioned that, under the policy support from governments at all levels for the high-definition industry, China's high-definition display industry has made significant progress. However, the domestic high-definition display industry still faces constraints due to the apparent shrinkage in market demand.
In an interview with the National Business Daily and other media on February 29th, Li mentioned that 10 years ago, foreign brands held a higher market share in China's TV market. However, today, domestic TV brands have surpassed 90% market share in China. China manufactures 75% of the world's TVs, and in overseas markets, the market share of Chinese brand TVs is continuously increasing. For example, in the North American market, Chinese brand TVs have reached a 26% market share.
On the other hand, China's TV market is shrinking. Five years ago, TV sales in China were over 50 million units; but by 2023, TV sales in China had dropped to 37 million units. During the same period, TV shipments in the North American market increased from 42 million units to 47 million units.
Additionally, according to Li's research, in 2022, the revenue of China's cable TV industry was over 760 billion yuan [105.58 billion USD], while the US cable TV industry's revenue was 210 billion US dollars, and Europe's cable TV revenue was over 230 billion US dollars. This contrast also indicates that there is still a large market development space for China's high-definition display industry.
In his proposal on the development of China's high-definition display industry, Li stated that the film and media industry is a part of New Productive Forces, not only creating immense economic value but also playing an active role in enhancing the competitiveness of the high-definition display industry and achieving high-quality development of China's economy.
In response to a question from a National Business Daily reporter, Li mentioned that the development of China's high-definition display industry and foreign markets differ greatly. The content services industry in North America creates tremendous value, giving rise to many globally competitive companies. Given China's leading position in the basic conditions and hardware of the high-definition display industry, why are sales lower in China? Why is the TV turn-on rate so low in China? These are questions that need to be considered by all sectors of society to find the reasons together. "I'm just raising the issue, hoping we can solve it together, as it objectively exists," Li said.
Li has discussed this issue with various parties. Some say that with the rise of mobile devices like smartphones, young people no longer watch TV, which is indeed a problem. However, European and American countries also have excellent mobile services, and this impact should be the same globally.
"My suggestion is mainly to draw the relevant departments' attention to this issue, so it focuses more on raising the problem," Li said. He hopes that relevant departments and the industry can identify and solve existing problems and difficulties, find ways to break through, increase TV users' turn-on rates, enhance TV content attractiveness, and encourage more non-governmental capital to invest in the high-definition display industry, making it an important part of China's high-quality development.
Li Dongsheng made several suggestions: First, to optimize the policy environment, improve the review system for film and television works, and stimulate the innovative vitality of the cultural film and television industry. Second, to encourage and protect non-governmental capital investment in the cultural film and television industry, cultivate media groups with international competitiveness, and export more Chinese film and television cultural works. Third, to build a modern cultural industry system, form new cultural business forms with new technologies and models, and use innovative technologies like 5G, big data, virtual reality, augmented reality, and ultra-high definition to expand content forms, innovate program models, and enhance the user's audio-visual experience.
"The high-definition display industry itself can create tremendous economic value. China has already invested a lot in this field, but our industry has not created corresponding value. If this industry is well developed, it will also be an important focus to promote China's economy's high-quality development," Li emphasized.