Cultural groups to be weaned off the state
Arts centres and theatres set to become commercial, profit-led enterprises
Sweeping reforms will be launched soon to wean many cultural entities off state funding and allow market forces to invigorate the sector.
Minister of Culture Sun Jiazheng said the government would enact new laws and provide help needed for the transformation, which will be phased in after pilot projects are completed.
Cultural organisations - including the China International Performing Arts Centre and Beijing Children's Art Theatre - will be transformed into profit-making enterprises, but some cultural institutions such as libraries will remain publicly funded though private sponsorship will be welcomed.
Unlike the reform of other state-owned enterprises, Mr Sun said he did not expect widespread layoffs as the government would spend money to ease the pain of the transition.
Laws on taxation and exporting rights would be brought in to enable the new enterprises to flourish, he said.
Two documents outlining the restructuring will be released by the State Council soon.
Industry sources said that the state would retain a controlling interest in the restructured enterprises and invite participation from foreign and domestic investors.
Mr Sun said the mainland had fulfilled the commitment it made when joining the World Trade Organisation by opening the market to imports and allowing gradually phased in foreign participation in the distribution sector under the agreed timetable.
While the government had eliminated the quota of audio-visual imports, it reserved the right to review the content, he said.
Imported audio-visual products currently account for about 10 per cent of the titles on the mainland market but 20 per cent of the sales volume.
Mr Sun said the most serious threat to the domestic audio-visual industry came not from the flood of legitimate imports but from pirated materials, which the government is seeking to control.
'The lethal threat to our entertainment industry is not from those authorised imports but [from] pirated products,' Xinhua quoted him as saying.
The Ministry of Culture is also working in co-operation with the ministries of Public Security, Information Technology, and Industry and Commerce on policing internet cafes for registration violations, admitting minors and spreading 'unhealthy' information, he said.
There are 200,000 internet cafes on the mainland but only 110,000 are officially registered.
In June 2002, a fire at a Beijing internet cafe which killed 25 people prompted the authorities to close thousands of outlets and introduce a range of regulations not only for safety but also to filter content and supervise users.
The number of electronic game parlours was reduced to around 17,000 from more than 100,000 in 2000.
