(Yicai Global) Oct. 23 -- The digital and creative industries are attracting startups and venture capital, and local governments in Shanghai, Hebei, Shaanxi and Shanxi are planning to introduce policies to promote these industries within the year, Economic Information Daily reported today.

In the first half, Sichuan, Beijing, Guangdong and other regions listed the digital and creative industries as key areas for future development and provided frameworks for guiding their advancement as well as policy support. Zhejiang, Fujian and Tianjin have encouraged their growth by building industrial parks and introducing tax relief schemes.

Investment in China's digital and creative industries reached USD4.16 billion (CNY27.47 billion) in the first half, representing an 84-percent increase over the second half of last year, State Information Center data show.

The rise in such activities involving startups and venture capital is driving the rapid development of the digital and creative industries, and three major digital and creative industrial areas have formed in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and near the mouths of the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers, said Zhang Zhenyi, analyst and director of the State Information Center. Sichuan and Fujian are also pursuing these fields, Zhang said.

China's digital and creative industries have created an Internet+Culture and Entertainment model, covering digital games, interactive entertainment, film and television animation, digital education, digital publishing, network services and other sectors, the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and National Development and Reform Commission said.

The digital and creative industries were worth USD219.7 billion (CNY1.45 trillion) last year and that number is expected to climb to USD454.5 billion by 2020, with the value of their industrial output reaching USD1.2 trillion.