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)