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John Howkins

John Howkins is one of the pioneers of the concept and theory of the global creative industry. He first proposed the concept of "creative economy".

In 1997, the British Blair government followed John Howkins’s proposal to develop a creative economy and formulated relevant policies for developing cultural and creative industries as the most important industrial policy, driving the wave of the global creative economy.

John Howkins is a member of the Creative Economy Advisory Council of the United Nations Development Programme, the vice-chairman of the British Image Advisory Council, and a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

During the 2015 China-UK Cultural Exchange Year, John Howkins visited China as a member of Prince William's delegation to China. In October of the same year, John Howkins was invited to attend a creative industry exchange event held during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the UK.