Minister of Culture Sun Jiazheng said at the annual meeting for
senior cultural officials on Tuesday that China's cultural sector
has made progress in eight aspects over the last five years, during
the country's 10th Five-Year Plan period?(2000-2005) .
At the annual meeting for senior cultural officials nationwide,
Sun said first, China's artistic creation and performance has
reported a boom over the past five years, with the launch of a
national project to promote performing arts. From 2002 to 2005, 102
performances skilled in a variety artistic styles gained financial
support from the government totaling more than 100 million yuan
(US$12.5 million).
While inspiring artistic creation, Sun said, the government also
introduced modern marketing methods into the running of artistic
troupes. Over the past five years, the artistic troupes in China
staged 410,000 performances for 430 million person times of
audience.
Second, the Chinese government placed its working focus on the
grassroots cultural sector, especially in the vast rural areas.
With large investments made by the government at all levels, almost
all counties in China have established a library and cultural
center.
The third achievement was the improvement of the cultural market
system with the participation of the private sector. With the help
of advanced technology and modern business methods like
merchandising, the culture industry has seen an industrial
upgrading.
Fourth, Sun said, China issued a set of documents on cultural
industry development, inviting the private sector to be more active
in the Chinese cultural market.
Fifth, external cultural relations and the Chinese mainland's
communication with Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan were enhanced.
Further, the French Culture
Year in China was a great success not only in boosting
Sino-French bilateral ties, but also in creating a Chinese cultural
brand.
Sixth, China's protection of its cultural heritage has made
remarkable progress particularly with the issuance of the Law for
the Protection of Cultural Relics. China also joined the Convention
on Protecting Intangible Cultural Heritage managed by the United
Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO).
Seventh, Sun said, China made further steps in cultural reform
among national artistic troupes, public service institutes, and
profit-making enterprises, represented by China Art and
Entertainment Group (CAEG).
Eighth, the Chinese government increased financial support in
the training of professional personnel and to the development of
needy new talents.
From 2000 to 2004, investment in the cultural sector reached
36.234 billion yuan (around US$4.5 billion), an increase of 42.4
percent from the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1995-2000) . In 2004, funds
appropriated for culture totaled 11.366 billion yuan (about US$1.42
billion), exceeding 10 billion yuan (some $1.25 billion) for the
first time.
(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2006)