From Safeguarding to Global Circulation: Intellectual Property, Digital Transformation, and the Cross-Border Reconfiguration of Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage

Weiyi Wang; Fengyu Zhao

doi:10.62177/apemr.v3i1.1030

Authors

Weiyi Wang Southwest Forestry University
Fengyu Zhao Southwest Forestry University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62177/apemr.v3i1.1030

Keywords:

Intangible Cultural Heritage, Intellectual Property Protection, Cultural Globalization, Digital Transformation, Community Participation and Sustainability

Abstract

As intangible cultural heritage (ICH) becomes increasingly visible in global cultural, creative, and digital markets, questions surrounding ownership, interpretation, and sustainable transmission have taken on new urgency. This article offers an integrated review of the evolving intersections among ICH, intellectual property protection (IPP), and globalization, with a specific focus on China—the world’s most active ICH-bearing nation. Drawing on legal scholarship, bibliometric studies, ethnographic research, and emerging digital-innovation literature, the study develops two analytical frameworks: a pathway model tracing how ICH is transformed into cultural intellectual property within domestic institutional settings, and a multi-level embedding model explaining how ICH is reinterpreted and reorganized in destination cultural and legal environments. Findings highlight three major tensions. First, the ontological mismatch between ICH and IP systems—most notably the conflict between the communal nature of heritage and the novelty requirements of patent law—generates persistent dilemmas around collective authorship, dynamic evolution, and cultural obligations. Second, cross-border dissemination produces both opportunities for global visibility and risks of cultural discount, symbolic dilution, and inequitable benefit-sharing. Third, while digitalization and generative AI provide novel modes of revitalization, they also raise concerns about data sovereignty, algorithmic appropriation, and community exclusion. The study argues that effective governance requires culturally sensitive IP strategies, participatory decision-making mechanisms, and ethical digital infrastructures that ensure the sustainability of living heritage. By bridging fragmented research strands, this article contributes a comprehensive theoretical and empirical foundation for understanding how Chinese ICH navigates the legal, cultural, and technological conditions of the global era.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

UNESCO. (2003). Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. https://ich.unesco.org/en/convention

Global Times. (2024). ICH status result of China’s cultural diversity. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202412/1324447.shtml

Zhang, W. (2010). China’s cultural future: From soft power to comprehensive national power. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 16(4), 383–402. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286630903538054 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10286630903134300

World Intellectual Property Organization. (2005). Intellectual property and traditional cultural expressions/folklore (WIPO Publication No. 913(E)). https://doi.org/10.34667/tind.28589

Wang, X., Li, Y., & Zhang, M. (2024a). Enhancing the digital inheritance and development of Chinese intangible cultural heritage paper-cutting art through generative AI technologies. Applied Sciences, 14(23), 11032. https://doi.org/10.3390/app142311032 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/app142311032

Kidd, S. (2022). Cultural discount and Chinese cultural exports. In Culture Paves the New Silk Roads (pp. 75–101). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8574-3_5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8574-3_5

Lin, Q., & Lian, Z. (2018). On protection of intangible cultural heritage in China from the intellectual property rights perspective. Sustainability, 10(12), 4369. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124369 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124369

Chen, J., Guo, Z., Xu, S., Law, R., Liao, C., He, W., & Zhang, M. (2023). A bibliometric analysis of research on intangible cultural heritage tourism using CiteSpace: The perspective of China. Land, 11(12), 2298. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11122298 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/land11122298

Su, X., Li, X., & Kang, Y. (2019). A bibliometric analysis of research on intangible cultural heritage using CiteSpace. SAGE Open, 9(2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019840119 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019840119

Hu, W., Li, M., Chi, X., Wang, X., & Khan, A. U. (2024). Intangible cultural heritage research in China from the perspective of intellectual property rights based on bibliometrics and knowledge mapping. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11, 825. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03314-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03314-9

Antons, C., & Logan, W. (2018). Intellectual and cultural property and the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. In C. Antons & W. Logan (Eds.), Intellectual Property, Cultural Property and Intangible Cultural Heritage (pp. 1–17). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315714288-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315714288-1

Lixinski, L. (2013). Intangible cultural heritage in international law. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199679508.001.0001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199679508.001.0001

Farah, P. D., & Tremolada, R. (2015). Conflict between intellectual property rights and human rights: A case study on intangible cultural heritage. Oregon Law Review, 94(1). https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/oreg95&div=6

Ubertazzi, B. (2022). Intangible cultural heritage, sustainable development and intellectual property: International and European perspectives. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08104-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08104-0

Cheng, L., & Yuan, Y. (2021). Intellectual property tools in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage: A Chinese perspective. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, 34(3), 893–906. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-020-09732-7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-020-09732-7

Fan, T., Wang, H., & Hodel, T. (2023). CICHMKG: A large-scale and comprehensive Chinese intangible cultural heritage multimodal knowledge graph. Heritage Science, 11, 115. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-023-00927-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-023-00927-2

Wang, Q., Li, Y., Zhang, M., & Chen, J. (2024). Interactive effects of intangible cultural heritage and tourism development. Heritage Science, 12, 150. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-024-01502-z DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-024-01502-z

Liu, X. (2024). The special way of intangible cultural heritage safeguarding in China: An empirical study of the Miao minority in Guizhou Province. Journal of Chinese Political Science, 29(2), 345–367. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-024-09876-5

Song, X., Yang, Y., Yang, R., & Shafi, M. (2019). Keeping watch on intangible cultural heritage: Live transmission and sustainable development of Chinese lacquer art. Sustainability, 11(13), 3098. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113098 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11143868

Li, J., & Wang, Z. (2023). Research on digitization of intangible heritage in Gansu section of the Silk Road. Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCHMSD-05-2023-0075

Wang, H., Qiu, T., Li, J., Lu, Z., & Ma, Y. (2025, February 11). HarmonyCut: Supporting creative Chinese paper-cutting design with form and connotation harmony. In Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.07628 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3714159

Rees, H. (2018). Intangible cultural heritage in contemporary China: The participation of local communities [Review of the book Intangible Cultural Heritage in Contemporary China]. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 24(5), 570–572. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2018.1440311 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2017.1413683

Zhang, L. (2022). Digitalization and intangible cultural heritage. Sustainability, 14(9), 5027. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095027 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su141711073

Li, B., Li, J., Liu, H., Liang, Z., & Liu, J. (2025). Empowering intangible cultural heritage with digital intelligence. Digital Scholarship in the Humanities. https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqaf137 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqaf137

Li, Y. (2021). The globalization of Chinese cultural heritage. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 27(4), 455–472. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2021.1993838 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2021.1993838