On July 17, 2025, the historic Guxiang Building, constructed in 1936 at No. 69 Jiujiang Road, completed its remarkable transformation from a century-old financial landmark to a new hub for digital content. The official unveiling of the Bund FTC marked the launch of the Huangpu District's high-quality internet content creation cluster.
One year later, this venerable building is radiating with renewed vitality. The initiative has evolved from a single structure to an entire street and a thriving ecosystem. The core of the cluster's development has never been merely about providing office space, but about establishing a complete industrial ecosystem and fostering collaborative pathways across the entire industry chain.
Initially, the Bund FTC functioned as a multi-purpose hub integrating co-working spaces, live-streaming studios, photography sets, and presentation halls. However, the rapid influx of creators and companies soon outgrew the single building. The main building was subsequently connected to the adjacent Bund Mansion, adding 2,000 square meters of shared creative space. The alleyway between the buildings, now named "Bund One Lane," welcomed coffee shops, casual eateries, and cultural retail stores, becoming a go-to spot for spontaneous creative discussions. The neighboring Jiangchuan Building is also set to become an extension of the content creation industry.
The cluster's influence extends beyond these buildings to Jiujiang Road, Hankou Road, the Bund Source block, and the Zhuowei 700 Park. The "Greater Shanghai Cultural Tourism Industrial Park" on Hankou Road focuses on IP licensing, attracting MCN agencies like Ma Boyong's IP incubation studio. Over the past year, the cluster has engaged with 1,027 companies and creators, hosted 2,031 events, attracted 2,615 content creators, and recruited 137 enterprises. The combined follower base of these companies exceeds 1.5 billion, with two-thirds reporting revenue growth exceeding 20%.
For creators, the district offers a sense of belonging and professional identity. An Italian lifestyle creator, who has been based in Shanghai for 12 years, finds the city's ambiance and daily life to be invaluable material for his work. In the past year, his short videos have garnered over 200 million views, and he now has a following exceeding 500,000. After joining the cluster, he recently registered a self-media company in Huangpu and plans to help more international creators tell stories about China.
Similar stories are common. A top video blogger with over 1 billion total views became the first officially recognized "High-Quality Content Creator" to settle in Shanghai under a new talent policy. To date, 11 such creators have relocated to Huangpu. The city's first dedicated talent apartment for internet creators has also opened, offering a ready-to-move-in community to address housing concerns.
Professional recognition is another significant motivator. A technology blogger with 1.4 million followers, who previously could only attend major industry events as a corporate visitor, successfully obtained official media credentials this year due to his status as a cluster member. This official acknowledgment is seen as validation for the entire industry. Furthermore, municipal and district authorities are collaborating with the Xiaohongshu platform to develop a professional certification for "product recommendation marketing," which is in its final approval stages, potentially offering an official credential to tens of thousands of content recommenders.
The creators are not just settling in; they are actively giving back to the city through their content. The cluster has established a regular "Hit Content Workshop" mechanism, organizing creators for collaborative content production around major festivals, cultural events, and commercial promotions. During a recent international flower festival, multiple influencers gathered in Huangpu, leading to a sixfold increase in related topic engagement, over 7 million visitor visits to the main venue, and a 37.2% boost in local commercial district consumption.
During the Huangpu Half Marathon, creators documented the entire 21-kilometer route in real-time, turning the race into a massive "live broadcast" showcasing the city. On Xiaohongshu, travel notes about China posted by international users have increased fivefold year-over-year, with Shanghai becoming the most-searched Chinese city among overseas users. The Bund FTC is becoming a window for the world to observe China's digital content industry, attracting international creators and hosting filming by notable figures.
Looking ahead, the cluster is evolving from its 1.0 phase of industrial aggregation to a 2.0 phase focused on collaborative ecosystem building. Huangpu is pioneering an OPC (Online Premium Content) pilot zone, with the Bund FTC designated as the city's first such unit, featuring a physical service window for streamlined business registration and other high-frequency procedures. Over ten government departments are set to roll out specialized measures covering qualifications, talent recruitment, and computing power support.
A particularly distinctive cross-sector collaboration is emerging between content and fintech. In early 2026, the National Fintech Certification Center Shanghai is slated to open at the Bund FTC, with the first batch of eight fintech firms and eight content creation companies moving in concurrently. From a single historic building to an industrial block, and from a group of creators to a vibrant ecosystem, Shanghai's Huangpu District is positioning high-quality content as a powerful "value engine" that stimulates consumption, revitalizes cultural tourism, and reshapes commercial logic, creating a powerful synergy between content creation and urban development.