China's capital plans to build nine more culture and art districts similar to the 798 Art Zone, a warren of galleries in old workshops in northeastern Beijing, in the coming two years.

A shortlist of candidates is not immediately available, as the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform is still waiting for recommendations from all of Beijing's 16 districts and two outlying counties.

By the end of 2010, the city will have 30 art and culture zones to encourage artistic creation and showcase Beijing's traditional and modern culture, it said.

Beijing currently has 21 art zones in 13 districts and counties, including the Panjiayuan curio market in southeastern Beijing, an artists' town in Songzhuang on the city's eastern outskirts, and an ancient cultural zone at Peking Man Museum in the south-western suburb of Zhoukoudian, where a fossilized human skull dating back at least 200,000 years was found in 1926.

Most of these places are popular among international tourists. During the Olympic Games in August, the 798 Art Zone received more than 330,000 visitors from China and abroad, the commission said.

In the meantime, the Panjiayuan curio market received 658,000 visitors, including 185,000 foreign athletes and officials, it said.

Beijing's 10,000 culture promotion businesses employ more than 1 million people, "a pillar service industry in the Chinese capital, next only to the financial sector," a spokesman with the commission said.

By 2010, the culture industry is expected to account for at least 12 percent of Beijing's GDP, he said.

798 Art Zone

798 Art Zone

If you are interested in contemporary Chinese art, there's a place you must go: 798 Art Zone. Located in the northeast suburb of Beijing, the previous factory plant has become a haven for artists from home and even abroad. Artists gather here to open galleries, art studios and cafes, and hold all kinds of art events, making the area the most resounding name in the artistic circle.

798 Art Zone

The original 798 was once a state-owned industrial plant established in the 1950s. The plant was abandoned in the late 1990s.

It became a "Soho-esque" area of international character, replete with "loft living," attracting attention from all over. Bringing together contemporary art, architecture, and culture with a historically interesting location and urban lifestyle, "798" has evolved into a cultural concept. It is of interest to experts and normal folk alike, influential on concepts of both urban culture and living space.

Cheap rent and quiet surroundings rapidly turned the area into a paradise for artists. More artists moved in and established dozens of art studios, galleries, as well as book stores, cafes and restaurants.

In the 798 Art Zone, there are nearly 400 organizations, including galleries, artists’ private studios, and cultural companies like animated cartoon, television media, publishing, design and consultation. These companies hail from France, Italy, Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Australia, South Korea, China, China Taiwan, Hong Kong and other countries and regions. The 798 Art Zone has become an exhibition center of Chinese culture and art, an influential cultural creative concentration area home and abroad.