China has seen prosperous development in various cultural undertakings during the nation's ninth Five-Year Plan period (1996-2000), which has greatly met the increasing demands of people's spiritual life.

A large amount of artistic work with wonderful and varied styles has been produced in China, and domestic artistic groups have given 420,000 performances in the five years, attracting a total of 480 million audience, according to statistics from the State Development Planning Commission.

Grass-roots cultural activities have also been increased, with the implementation of a series of program which include building culturally advanced counties, promoting cultural activities in the country's border areas, and spreading artistic knowledge and improving artistic skills of Chinese adolescents.

During the 1996-2000 period, the State Council has published the fourth group of units for cultural relics protection, bringing the total number of such units to 750. Meanwhile, 23 historic sites in China have been put in the World Heritage list by the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Museums and cultural organizations in China have held more than 6,400 displays and exhibitions, attracting an audience of more than 3.04 billion a year.

International cultural exchanges have also been promoted, and now China is in contact with more than 1,000 cultural organizations in over 160 countries and regions throughout the world, according to commission.
(People's Daily 09/28/2000)