The 18th Hangzhou Cultural and Creative Industry Expo opened on Thursday in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Experts and international exhibitors at the expo shared the opinion that a thriving cultural industry will help provide new impetus for the economy and bolster global communication and cooperation amid growing uncertainties around the world.

The cultural sector will become a driving force for economic development, according to Xiong Chengyu, director of the National Research Center for Cultural Industries at Tsinghua University, who made the remarks during the expo's opening ceremony.

"Faced with a slew of challenges presented by the current complex and severe economic environment, investing in and lending policy support to the cultural industry will create new jobs and economic activities," Xiong said.

Hangzhou's cultural industry has witnessed rapid growth in the past decade. Official figures show that the added value of the city's cultural industry expanded from 100 billion yuan ($14.04 billion) in 2016 to 200 billion yuan in 2020 before swelling to over 300 billion yuan last year.

The annual average growth rate of the city's cultural industry far outstripped that of its GDP, of which it accounts for 16 percent.

"Culture sells," said Guy Thompson, a China-based ceramic artist who hails from the UK and has been showcasing his products at the expo since 2016. "If it's done well, it makes people's lives better."

"Culture is also really a good way of drawing people together," he said. "With a lot of negative things going on, events like the expo bring different voices in one place like Hangzhou and foster better communication."

Themed "Creative Hangzhou, Connecting World", the annual Hangzhou Cultural and Creative Industry Expo has attracted exhibitors from 68 countries and regions this year, with 550 international brands presenting their products. Of those, 70 percent are making their debut in China, according to the organizers.

"It is really important that we travel and make exchanges around our cultural identity, share our rich culture, and learn about other people's culture," said Róisín de Buitléar, an Irish visual artist who is visiting Hangzhou for the first time and focusing her works on the environment.

In light of the seemingly growing divisiveness worldwide, it is ever more vital that events such as the expo and conversations between people from different nations be held, she added.

The expo will run until Oct 21.