Beijing, City of Design

A historic ancient capital and political center of China, Beijing, with its history reaching back over 3,000 years, is recognized today as the country’s cultural center. Beijing has 47 public libraries, including the National Library of China, more than 170 museums and more than 300 theatres, including the National Centre for the Performing Arts, giving more than 12,000 performances every year.

With 119 design colleges and more than 30,000 students, Beijing is known for its vibrant design sector. One of Beijing’s pillar industries, the design sector employs nearly 250,000 people and has a total value estimated at over 160 billion RMB.Beijing holds the internationally recognized Beijing Design Week, the China Red Star Design Award, Beijing Fashion Week, the Beijing International Film Festival, the Beijing International Cultural & Creative Industry Expo and the Beijing Science and Technology Exposition.

Beijing has more than 30 Creative Cluster Areas and provides approximately 270 design and creativity workshops to enhance women’s employment. Additionally in 2012, the city of Beijing and the University of Nairobi joined forces to build the Beijing – Nairobi Innovation & Design Research Center. Beijing is also proud to be home to some of the world’s most celebrated architectural design, such as the National Centre for the Performing Arts designed by French architect Paul Andreu, the Galaxy SOHO designed by Zaha Hadid, and Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital Airport designed by Norman Foster.