SHENZHEN – November 08, 2026 -- Rongbaozhai and CICG Asia-Pacific opened the special exhibition Contour of the Time: Classics, Heritage and Convergence in Shenzhen on the afternoon of November 4, 2026, ahead of the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. The event opened with a performance by Wing Chun heritage inheritor Dong Chonghua alongside AGIBOT humanoid robots.
Rongbaozhai Outlines Dual-Headquarters Plan for Asia-Pacific Art Trade
Zhao Dong, Party Committee Secretary and Director of Rongbaozhai Co., Ltd., said the company draws on more than 350 years of cultural work. Rongbaozhai runs headquarters in Beijing and in the Greater Bay Area, where it is developing its full range of cultural and artistic operations.
Zhao said Hong Kong will serve as the gateway, Shenzhen as the hub and Guangzhou as the base of a planned network for cultural exchange and art trading across the Asia-Pacific. He described the plan as part of the company's mission as a state-owned cultural enterprise.
CICG Vice President Ties Exhibition to APEC Cultural Exchange
Yu Yingfu, Vice President of China International Communications Group (CICG), said the show matters for promoting intangible cultural heritage across the region and for exchanges among civilizations. He called for preserving traditional skills, adapting them to modern life and developing new ways to tell China's stories abroad.
Jin Xiu of the Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles said the exhibition shows how digital and intelligent technologies can renew heritage crafts. She noted that three other exhibitions run alongside it in Shenzhen:
- The Blooming Splendor: Exhibition of Works by Winners of the Shanhua Award for Chinese Folk Crafts
- The 16th Guangdong Folk Craft Masterpieces Exhibition
- The Shenzhen Fine Folk Arts and Crafts Exhibition
China Report ASEAN Releases APEC Issue and Woodblock Documentary
Yang Jianping, Party Committee Secretary and President of CICG Asia-Pacific, announced the APEC special issue of China Report ASEAN, themed "Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together." The issue examines APEC cooperation mechanisms. Its special report, Bringing Ancient Paintings Back to Life, focuses on Rongbaozhai.
The organizers also premiered the micro-documentary Revival of an Ancient Art: Woodblock Watermark Printing. It covers the tracing, block carving and printing steps of Rongbaozhai's technique and its adaptation to modern life.
Two Roundtables Cover Technology and Youth Dialogue
The first roundtable, on contemporary narratives of intangible cultural heritage and technological empowerment, had six speakers. They included Zhong Ruolei, Design Department Manager at Rongbaozhai Greater Bay Area and curator of the exhibition, and Liu Xiehui, Deputy General Manager and COO of Beijing Qingyan Lingzhi Technology Co., Ltd. Topics ranged from AI music and stage technology to digital assessment and vocational education.
The second roundtable, "Asia-Pacific Youth 'I Read China'," brought together academics, a BoNien Press co-founder and international students from Botswana, Russia and Vietnam. They discussed telling Chinese stories in a multilingual context.
Guests then toured the Rongbaozhai (Shenzhen) Art Space and the Rongbaozhai Art and Living Space. The displays included paintings and calligraphy from Rongbaozhai's collection, woodblock watermark prints and modern craft designs. Visitors tried woodblock watermark printing and joined tea and floral art activities.