China to further promote culture development

BEIJING - China will further promote the reform and development in its cultural system, Premier Wen Jiabao said at the parliament's annual session Monday, as China continues its stress on cultural strength.

The government will vigorously promote nonprofit cultural services and strengthen cultural infrastructure in communities, particularly in rural areas and the central and western regions, Wen said in a government work report delivered at the opening meeting of the Fifth Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature.

"We will provide a large quantity of high-quality cultural products to meet people's demand," said Wen in the report.

The country will also deepen the reform of the cultural system and continue to transform for-profit cultural institutions into enterprises, said Wen, adding that cultural industry will be turned into a pillar of the economy.

"We will promote the flourishing of philosophy and the social sciences, and actively develop the press, publishing, radio, film, television, literature, art, and archives," Wen added.

The government will intensively promote the development of the system of core socialist values, and educate children and young people about values and strive to create a social atmosphere that promotes morality, integrity, dedication, and harmony, the premier said.

Wen also noted the government will better protect its cultural heritage and foster the flourishing of ethnic minority cultures, and intensify cultural and people-to-people exchanges with other countries in a bid to learn from each other's strengths.

Wen said the central government last year increased financial support for cultural programs that benefit the people, and local governments significantly increased spending on nonprofit cultural programs.

The number of public cultural facilities open to the public free of charge has also been increased, added Wen.

Wen's report is another demonstration that shows China's reiteration of cultural development after over three decades of fast economic expansion. The report followed a series of important official documents outlining the development for a country with cultural strength and soft power.

The government in February issued a detailed outline for cultural reforms and development during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) period, specifying the guiding principles, major goals and key aspects of the plan, as well as policy supports for cultural reforms.

The outline followed the sixth plenary session of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in October 2011.

During the session, leaders of the CPC approved a decision on deepening reform of the cultural system and promoting the development of the cultural industry in a bid to build a country with soft power.

It was the first time for the CPC's decision-makers to focus on cultural issues in the Party's plenary session over the past 15 years.

"Culture has won precious opportunity for development amid economic restructuring and industrial structure optimization," said Ouyang Qiansen, a deputy to the NPC and vice president of the Writers' Association of Guizhou Province in southwest China.

"The government should do more in promoting the people's consumption in culture," said Li Jian, another NPC deputy and Communist Party secretary of Wuhan University in central Hubei Province. "Nonprofit culture projects and construction of public cultural services system should be strengthened.".

Scheduled to conclude on March 14, almost 3,000 NPC deputies from all over the country will discuss China's major issues at the annual session.