GENEVA - CHINA and Italy are the top exporters of creative goods such as films, music, traditional crafts, design and architecture, the United Nations trade and development agency said on Monday.

China saw 'unprecedented dynamism' in this field from 1996 to 2005, with mainland exports rising from US$18.4 billion (S$26.5 billion) to US$61.4 billion over the ten year period, according to an Unctad report.

Hong Kong was already the world's top producer of creative goods in 1996, when it was still a British colony. Its exports rose from US$24.4 billion in 1996 to US$27.7 billion in 2005.

This gives China a total export figure for 2005 of US$89.1 billion.

Italy's creative exports rose to US$28 billion in 2005 from US$23.6 billion in 1996, reflecting its 'competitive position in the field of design,' the report said.

Unctad secretary general Supachai Panitchpakdi said that creative industries were a dynamic sector of the global economy which offered rich possibilities for developing economies.

'Creativity and human talent are fast becoming a powerful means of fostering development gains,' he said.

However, Unctad officials conceded that further study and clarification was needed on how to most accurately define and measure cultural production in a globalised economy.

At present, a fashion product by a French designer which is made in China would count as Chinese, said Edna dos Santos-Duisenberg, chief of Unctad's creative economy and industries programme.

'There are a lot of issues that need to be further analysed, this is just a starting point,' she said. -- AFP