A UK music industry trade mission to China is set to take place from October 21-25, 2025.
The trip will enable music businesses to explore business opportunities in the world’s second largest economy.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT), in partnership with the BPI is organising this music mission to China, which will take place in Shanghai. The event will include delegates attending the IMX Shanghai event. There will also be a reception at the British Consulate in Shanghai for delegates and invited Industry guests.
Recorded music revenues in China totalled US $1.6 billion in 2024. The world’s fifth largest music market, China’s income increase of $143m was the second largest globally, driven by subscription streaming growth of 18.9% and ensuring it became only the third market (alongside the US and UK) to surpass $1bn in subscription streaming revenues.
China accounted for over 35% of global subscription user growth in 2024 and the physical market is also strong, with revenue up by 18.8% year-on-year.
“The mission will act as a catalyst for collaboration, exploration, and expansion of the British music industry in China,” said the UK labels association. It will include a programme of education, networking, B2B meetings, and other music-related activities at the IMX Shanghai event.
Artists, managers, promoters, record labels, music publishers, digital distribution companies, festival bookers/directors/organisers and promoters, covering all genres of music, are invited to participate and the mission organisers will be tailoring certain aspects of the program to suit all delegates.
IMX provides an opportunity to engage with leaders from across the Chinese music ecosystem. Previous editions have consistently attracted senior executives from China's key streaming DSPs, including Tencent Music Entertainment (TME), NetEase Cloud Music, Bytedance (Douyin/TikTok) and Huawei as well as micro-sync platforms such as Keep, Visual China and Ali Music.
The event has also served as a connection point to the collective management organisations – MCSC (for publishing rights) and CAVCA (for neighbouring rights) – creating a forum for licensing and royalty discussions. Furthermore, the IMX team will facilitate networking with a diverse range of local and international partners, including major and independent labels and music tech innovators.
Mission registration is £200 per delegate including access to the IMX Shanghai event. All travel, accommodation and other costs will need to be covered by delegates. Details are here.
