Increasing the supply of cultural originals

To increase the supply of cultural original works, in August 2002, the Ministry of Culture in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance formulated the National Implementation Plan for Artistic Excellence on the Stage. The first phase of this project was the five years from 2002-2007, during which 50 outstanding plays of different theatrical types were staged. The central government has invested 40 million Yuan in this project annually. With a view to invigorating and spurring the development of traditional music, the Ministry of Culture has implemented the “Developing and Supporting Project for Chinese Traditional Music” since 2010. This involves an annual allocation of 6 million Yuan from state coffers which is employed in a variety of ways to create a thriving traditional music scene. To enrich China’s arts collection, the Ministries of Culture and Finance established a special fund in 2004 for both the collection of excellent artworks and their donation and award. So far 150 million Yuan has been thus invested and over ten thousand artistic pieces collected by the state.

China has also rendered assistance and relief, in policy and capital terms, to relatively weak cultural industries such as animation industry. In 2006, the State Council circulated Several Opinions on Propelling the Development of China’s Animation Industry formulated by the Ministry of Finance in conjunction with 9 other government departments. In August 2008, the Ministry of Culture promulgated Several Opinions on Supporting the Development of China’s Animation Industry. With guidance via relevant policies, Chinese production of cartoons and animations reached a total of 220,000 minutes in 2010, 30% more than 2009; the market volume of online games was 34.9 billion Yuan, an increase of 35.3% over 2009.