The earnings from network music downloading amounted to 3.6 billion yuan in 2005, which is called the dawn of China's online music era, said Liu Guoxiong, head of Chinese Audio-Visual Association.

Even in 2003, the most fruitful year, the income from sale of Compact Disc (CD) albums only stood at 2.7 billion yuan, added Liu.

The audio-visual industry is shifting from traditional ones to new media and expanding to such areas as network, animation, game, education and will become a core of the cultural industry.

China International Audio-Visual & Electronic Expo will be held in Shanghai from May 25 to May 28, with the theme of online music industry and new media. The expo, jointly sponsored by General Administration of Press and Publication of China (GAPPC), National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC), and Shanghai municipal government, has drawn nearly a hundred companies from home and abroad, including UMG and Warner, as well as emerging online music operations.

Meanwhile, the famous International Compact Disc Association, as well as heads of various disc associations from US, Britain, Japan and Korea will come to China to attend an industrial summit to talk about the ��new era of the disc industry��.

By People's Daily Online