UK celebrates its unique creative talent
On 16 January, British Embassy Beijing hosted a special evening reception to celebrate UK creativity.
UK Ambassador to China, Sebastian Wood and celebrity host Chen Luyu
UK Ambassador to China, Sebastian Wood, hosted a special evening reception to celebrate UK creativity, and the recent success of the new TV series with celebrity host Chen Luyu, which promotes UK creativity to a national audience across China.
Filmed in London in October 2013, the series was the second collaboration between the British Embassy and Chen Luyu and her team at Phoenix TV. The series, broadcast on Phoenix TV in December 2013, featured a range of examples showcasing the UK’s leading global position as a centre of creativity. The 10 episodes each featured a different aspect of UK creativity in its broadest sense, covering a range of different industries where creativity and innovation is highly prized.
Chen Luyu held in-depth interviews with some of the leading creative individuals in their industry. They included entrepreneur Richard Branson, architect Zaha Hadid, designer Thomas Heatherwick, fashion accessories designer Anya Hindmarch, film director Tom Hooper, fashion designer Stella McCartney, and Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsay.
The ‘Creativity is GREAT Celebrations’, bringing together over 120 guests from the creative industries in China and the UK, included a screening of the highlights of the show, where guests saw extracts from some of the celebrity interviews, and footage from the London Film Festival, East London, Borough Market, the Harry Potter Studios, and iconic areas in London.
The event included a special acknowledgement to Chen Luyu for her efforts towards making the TV show, with recognition as the new image ambassador for the UK’s Creativity is GREAT campaign.
The UK creative industries are renowned across the globe for driving growth, investment and tourism. Recently published official statistics* reveal that the UK’s creative Industries are now worth £71.4 billion per year to the UK economy.
Ambassador Wood said:
I’m delighted to award Chen Luyu the title of image ambassador for the Creativity is GREAT Britain campaign. All her fans in China know just what a creative person she is, so I’m delighted she visited Britain last year and met some of our greatest creative talents – from art to architecture, from fashion to film, from engineers to entrepreneurs. Creativity is in the UK’s DNA and we want to keep developing our creative partnership with China.
Other exhibits at the event included a showcase by project partners BT, of their new cutting-edge product the BT Digital Signage Solution - a screen aimed to create a new generation of platforms for an interactive shopping environment. Virgin, also a key project partner, offered guests some vibrantly branded cupcakes.
Guests at the event were treated to a drinks reception provided by Diageo, showcasing a Johnny Walker whisky experience bar, and British canapés provided by The Vineyard Café, one of Beijing’s best-loved British food establishments.
Chen Luyu commented:
I am delighted to have been awarded the title of GREAT Britain image ambassador. I am really impressed by the range of British talents who are creative icons renowned all over the world. To me, that is the measure of true creativity.
More information
*Statistics provided by the British Government Department for Culture, Media & Sport on January 14 2014.
The GREAT Britain campaign
The GREAT Britain campaign is the biggest-ever integrated government international marketing campaign, aimed at driving inward investment and tourism to the UK.
Launched worldwide in 2012, the GREAT Britain campaign showcases the best of Britain, highlighting its strengths under a series of ‘pillars’: Heritage, Culture, Countryside, Sport, Innovation, Business, Entrepreneurs, Technology, Creativity and Green. The British government hopes to continue GREAT until 2016, targeting key markets - including China”
Britain is a creative nation and the UK has one of the largest creative industries sectors in the world. It is a place where imagination can flourish to create films, television, music, design and literature that connects with people around the world.
Online viewing of the Creativity is GREAT ‘A Date with Luyu’