During the annual national conference on cultural work which ends Wednesday in Beijing, Sun said his ministry sketched the development plan in cultural fields in the coming five years (2001- 2005).

The ministry organized the Sixth China Art Festival in east Jiangsu Province in September and October. Several million people viewed the 100 performances, which were the most excellent nationwide. The organizers, for the first time, collected funds through a lottery.

Cultural authorities also strove to cultivate the traditional art forms such as Beijing Opera and Kunqu Opera, Sun said.

In addition, the ministry strictly overhauled video game parlors and severely cracked down on video piracy.

Statistics show that more than 100,000 gambling machines were confiscated and the registered parlors were reduced from 100,000 to 35,000.

Meanwhile, 6.18 million pirated discs were seized in 2000 and more than 5,000 video shops were punished.

The international arts festival in Shanghai and Chinese cultural delegations' tours to France and the United States in the past year helped China improve a friendly exchange with other countries.

(People's Daily 02/21/2001)