The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the People's Bank of China and the Ministry of Finance officially listed Ningbo as a candidate to become a national cultural and financial cooperation demonstration zone on Dec 10.

Only two places made the shortlist, the other being Beijing's Dongcheng district.

In 2014, China first proposed the idea to deepen cultural and financial cooperation, and Ningbo and Dongcheng district have proved to begin testing the waters.

Ningbo has seen strong results in this regard since 2018, when it began receiving special funds from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The Ningbo branch of the Agricultural Bank of China recently established its first cultural and financial institution in the country.

To date, financial institutions in the city have developed 168 products, providing financial services to more than 8,000 cultural enterprises and over 100 key cultural projects.

Meanwhile, the local government, together with relevant banks and insurance institutions, also established a credit fund to ease financial burdens on small and micro-sized cultural enterprises.

A credit company backed by local authorities has provided more than 200 million yuan ($29.8 million) in loans to small and micro cultural enterprises thus far.

The city now houses a total of 32 listed cultural and tourism companies, eight of which are listed on the main boards.

Ningbo also recently inaugurated a financial service center for cultural and tourism enterprises with the aim of setting up a communication platform linking cultural and tourism companies with financial institutions.