The General Office of Shandong Province Government issued an official document on Nov 30 authorizing expanded government procurement of public cultural services such as sporting events, museums and libraries.

According to the document, the government should strive to broaden public ownership of public cultural services, enabling it to involve the private sector in more public services related to culture by offering government procurement contracts before the end of 2017.

By the end of 2020, the government should have built a smooth system for guiding government procurement of public cultural services and, the system should be consistent with the economic and social development of Shandong and satisfy the people's needs for spiritual culture, sports and fitness, says the document.

The document also states, the funds that local governments spend on outsourcing public cultural services to the private sector are incorporated into local governments' budgets. Any Illegal acts or financial irregularities in government procurement will be punished and recorded in the credit file that is established specifically for government procurement of public cultural services.