Chinese beauty Zhang Zilin has recently won the 57th Miss World Pageant and consequently brought a lot of attention to China.

An editorial piece from the Workers' Daily says Zhang Zilin's crown came at a perfect time. China really needs to take a page from other countries and use the power of pop culture to boost economic development.

Nowadays, pop culture is gradually becoming an industry that is of vital importance to the economy. With the help of globalisation and new technologies, culture is no longer just culture. Rather, it is an economy. Just think about all the derivatives of the Harry Potter book series. Is it a cultural phenomenon, or is it more of an economic phenomenon?

The paper says with China's long history and rich cultural heritage, it should be relatively easy for us to find some pop culture items and turn them into an industry, like Harry Potter. Why then, do we lack cultural products that can attract global attention?

The author of the editorial thinks it has a lot to do with our attitude toward traditional Chinese culture. Most people have realised that culture is a goldmine full of profit-making opportunities, yet some others are too reluctant to try anything new to promote the culture, as if having money in mind would somehow equal blasphemy.

The paper says If we do not change this way of thinking, Chinese culture will become a burden. Only by keeping up with the times and creating modernised new Chinese pop culture, can we truly expand our scope of influence and have a Chinese cultural and economic success story like Harry Potter.