Chinese public cultural institutions go private

BEIJING -- Progress has been made in converting government-funded cultural institutions into private enterprises, Minister of Culture Cai Wu said Wednesday.

Cai made the comment when briefing national lawmakers at a bi-monthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.

Cultural sector restructuring has been ongoing since 2006 with the purpose of boosting the sector and turning its government-funded cultural institutions into enterprises.

More than 580 publishing houses, 3,000 bookstores, 850 movie producers and distributors, 57 public TV series producers and the marketing sectors of 38 Communist Party of China newspapers and journals have been restructured and turned into enterprises.

Another 3,271 non-political newspapers and journals funded by the government have gone private as well.

Cai also briefed the lawmakers on the development of cultural industry, stating that mergers, acquisitions and public listings in the sector have been promoted.

Thirty-eight cultural enterprises were listed on the Shanghai and Hong Kong bourses as of the end of August.

Cai said China has invested 620 million yuan ($99.2 million) in supporting technology-intensive cultural enterprises, including those operating in the new media and digital publication sectors.

The export volume of China's core cultural products jumped from $3.08 billion in 2001 to $18.68 billion in 2011, Cai said.