The year 2001 witnessed the start of the new century and the launch of the 10th Five Year Plan. Guided by General Secretary Jiang Zemin's important thought of the Three Represents, under the leadership of the central government and the State Council, governments and party committees at all levels attached great importance to the construction of culture. They also increased their investment to enable art and literary institutions to develop and prosper in an all-round way, while embodying the following aspects:

I. Personnel Adjustment in Institutions

In 2001, there were 268,000 various culture institutions nationwide -- down 17,000 (6.0 percent) from the previous year. Practitioners are about 1.419 million, down 3.6 percent (about 323,000) from the previous year. The main reason for the reduction was that the government rectified the culture market operators and administrations and banned entertainment venues that were not in line with the related law. The detailed information is as follows:

1. There were 2,605 arts performance groups with 138,000 personnel 　 a reduction of 25 and 3,000 respectively compared to last year. The number of opera troupes was reduced by 48 groups and 3,467 persons.

2. The number of various performance venues totaled 1,854 with 40,000 personnel and were reduced by 58 and 2,170 respectively, of which the theater and cinemas fell by 63 and 1,923 respectively.

3. The number of arts creation institutions within the arts system equaled 429 with 3,124 personnel 　 an increase of 22 and 118 respectively compared to last year. Art research institutions at 185 locations with staff 3,205, increased by 55 people. Art exhibition institutions jumped from 49 to 51, including the addition of 22 new art galleries.

4. There were 2,696 public libraries with 486,000 staff 　 an increase of 19 libraries and a drop of 2,789 people compared to last year. There were 2,228 libraries at the county level (including the city of county level and districts under the city's jurisdiction) with 26,000 practitioners.

5. There were 399 mass arts galleries with 11,500 practitioners -- an increase of nine galleries and a reduction of 138 employees compared to last year. There were 2,842 cultural centers with practitioners totaling 42,000 　 a reduction of 65 and 1,246 respectively over last year.

6. There were 40,138 cultural stations with 66,700 practitioners 　 a drop of 1,886 and 6,880 respectively, of which there were 37,000 town cultural stations with 56,700 practitioners.

7. There were 3,739 institutions with 70,900 practitioners in the cultural-relic protection community 　 an increase of 121 and 2,885 persons compared to last year -- up 3.3 and 4.3 percent respectively. There were 2,159 cultural-relic institutions with 32,800 practitioners, which increased by 59 and 1,882 people respectively, up 2.3 and 6.1 percent.

8. There were 1,461 museums with 35,400 practitioners, which increased 69 and 1,198 respectively, up 5.0 and 3.5 percent.

9. There were 111,100 cultural and recreational institutions (including song-and-dance entertainment venues, halls for video games, billiards and bowling, net bars and complex entertainment locations) with 668,000 practitioners, which fell 20,700 and 29,000 respectively compared to last year, down 15.7 and 4.2 percent.

10. There were 98,000 other operation institutions (including cultural and arts agencies, video wholesale and retail, video projection, video rental, painting shops, arts companies, arts works auction companies, books wholesale and retail) with 252,000 practitioners, which increased 5,875 and 13,000 respectively compared to last year, up 6.5 and 14.1 percent.

Among the cultural-institution practitioners nationwide, there were 26,874 people with senior titles and 83,577 people with intermediate titles, accounting for 1.9 and 5.9 percent of the total practitioners. Judging from the industry, there were 50,723 people with senior and intermediate titles in art performance groups, accounting for 36.7 percent of the troupes. There were 15,094 people with senior and intermediate titles in the field of public libraries, accounting for 31.1 percent of the number in this field. There were 16,665 individuals with senior and intermediate titles in the mass cultural business, accounting for 13.9 percent of the total number of practitioners in the mass cultural business. There were 1,690 people with senior and intermediate titles at arts-creation institutions, accounting for 54.1 percent of the total number of institutions. There were 1,841 people with senior and intermediate titles at arts-research institutions, accounting for 57.4 percent of the institutions. There were 12,141 persons with senior and intermediate titles in cultural relics, accounting for 17.1 percent of the total number of practitioners in the cultural-relics field.

II. Cultural Institutional Expenditures Broke RMB 7b Nationwide

1. In 2001 the finance compensation income (i.e., finance allocation) reached RMB 7.099 billion 　 an increase of RMB 783 million, and up 12.4 percent.

The per capita cultural expenditure (i.e., per capita finance compensation income) was RMB 5.7 yuan. Based on the finance compensation income from the central government, the per capita cultural institutional expenditure was RMB 5.42 yuan. The per capita cultural institutional expenditures of only 15 provinces exceeded the average national level, where Shanghai was the highest -- up to RMB 36.79 yuan. Beijing followed with RMB 24.87 yuan. Henan Province ranked the lowest with RMB 2.51 yuan.

From the point of view of distribution, the finance compensation income of the following 25 regions exceeded RMB 100 million: Beijing Municipality, Tianjin Municipality, Hebei Province, Shanxi Province, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning Province, Jilin Province, Heilongjiang Province, Shanghai Municipality, Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, Anhui Province, Fujian Province, Jiangxi Province, Shandong Province, Henan Province, Hubei Province, Hunan Province, Guangdong Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sichuan Province, Yunnan Province, Shaanxi Province, Gansu Province, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Tianjin and Gansu.

From the increased sum, only Tibet Autonomous Region, Hainan Province and Shaanxi Province experienced a decline compared to the previous year. The remaining municipalities, regions and provinces increased at various levels: Guangdong Province was the highest, amounting to RMB 117 million, then Zhejiang Province with RMB 113 million. Shanghai Municipality jumped RMB 62.23 million in third places. The increased rate of 23 provinces, municipalities or autonomous regions exceeded the average rate nationwide (12.4 percent). The top three were Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, up 40.6 percent; Qinghai Province, up 40.5 percent; and Shanxi Province, up 37.5 percent.

The above-mentioned data demonstrates that western areas have increased their investments in cultural institutions, but that the low base of the investment is due to financial difficulties. Although the increased rate was comparatively high, the net growth of the investment could only ameliorate part of the situation. Therefore, it was still the obligatory responsibility of governments at various levels to increase investment in cultural institutions in the future to develop an advanced culture in China.

2. Cultural public institution income continued to increase and operational income stopped declining.

In 2001, the total income for the cultural public institution nationwide (including finance compensation income) was RMB 11.06 billion -- an increase of RMB 968 million, and up 9.6 percent. Business income (income from the implementing activities and its related activities) was at RMB 232.9 million -- a jump of RMB 154 million, and up 7.1 percent, which accounted for 21.1 percent of the total income -- 0.4 percent less than in the previous year. Operational income was RMB 585 million -- an increase of RMB 180 million, and up 44.9 percent, which accounted for 5.3 percent of the total income -- up 1.6 percent over last year.

From the distribution angle, the the following 19 municipalities, provinces and autonomous regions increased their business income compared to the previous year at different levels: Beijing Municipality, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Jilin Province, Shanghai Municipality, Jiangsu Province, Anhui Province, Jiangxi Province, Hebei Province, Hubei Province, Hunan Province, Guangdong Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sichuan Province, Guizhou Province, Shaanxi Province, Gansu Province and Ningxia Province. Shanghai increased by RMB 129 million, being the highest. The remaining 12 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions saw a negative growth, where Heilongjiang Province experienced the biggest reduction, amounting to RMB 109 million -- down 88.0 percent.

In increased sums, six provinces and municipalities exceeded RMB 100 million: Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, Anhui Province and Guangdong Province Anhui. Shanghai, at RMB 533 million, had the highest income. Only Jilin Province, Jiangsu Province and Tibet Autonomous Regions had smaller operational incomes compared to the previous year. The remaining 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions increased at different levels, with 14 exceeding the average level nationwide. The net increased sum of Guangdong Province ranked highest, amounting to RMB 33.36 million, while Heilongjiang Province had the highest increased rate.

The above-mentioned data suggests that the finance compensation and business incomes have propelled the growth of the total income, which indicates that governments and party committees at various levels have attached great importance to the development of culture. They have increased their investment to cultural institutions, providing a basic guarantee for the development of cultural public institutions using main businesses to increase income. The gradual growth of the operational income and its rate in the total income indicated that most public institutions changed their concept in the market's economic condition to increase reform strength and made good use of their advantage in cultural resources to develop cultural institutions.

3. The total growth rate of the cultural institutional expenditure is 8.6 percent lower than the financial expenditure of the same period.

The total expenditure of nationwide cultural institutions was RMB 11.046 billion yuan 　 an increase of RMB 1001 million yuan, and up 10 percent. From the distribution point of view, the expenditure of 27 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities exceeded RMB 100 million; only four spent less than RMB 100 million, including Hainan Province, Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Shanghai ranked highest with RMB 1164 million yuan. About 22 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have a net increased sum of over RMB 10 million 　 an increase of six by number. Shanghai claimed the top spot by RMB 187 million yuan; Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region came second with RMB 130 million yuan. There were 17 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities that exceeded the average growth rate (10 percent), of which Xinjiang ranked highest by 92.4 percent. Hebei Province followed by 45.8 percent. There were four provinces and autonomous regions with reduced expenditures compared to the year before, namely Heilongjiang, Hainan,Tibet and Shaanxi, where Heilongjiang saw the biggest reduction -- up to RMB 180 million, and down 42.7 percent.

In the total expenditure, the institutional expense totaled RMB 10.061 billion 　 an increase of RMB 1003 million yuan, and up 11.1 percent, which accounted for 91.1 percent of the total -- up 0.9 percent over the year before. The institutional expenses of Hainan Province, Tibet Autonomous Regions and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region did not exceed RMB 100 million yuan; the rest exceeded the figure, where Shanghai ranked highest, up to RMB 1088 million yuan. Hainan, Tibet and Shaanxi fell compared to the previous year, while the rest increased at different levels. Shanghai ranked highest -- up to RMB 169 million yuan, and Xinjiang had the highest growth rate -- up to 86.1 percent. The growth rate of 17 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities exceeded the average rate (11.1 percent), accounting for 54.8 percent of the provincial administration classification.

The operational expense was RMB 458 million 　 an increase of RMB 175 million yuan, and up 62.1 percent. It accounted for 4.1 percent of the total expenditure -- up 1.3 percent over the previous year. Only Hainan Province and Sichuan Province saw a reduction over last year, the rest grew at various levels, where Guangdong Province was the highest -- up to RMB 31.13 million yuan, while Tianjin had the highest growth rate.

The payment for the practitioners, at RMB 3635 million yuan, a rise of RMB 372 million yuan over last year (up 11.4 percent), and accounting for 32.9 percent (up 0.4 percent over last year). Only Shandong, Hebei, Hubei, Hainan, Chongqing and Tibet fell compared to the year before; the rest were on the up track. Shanghai ranked first -- up to RMB 54, 17 million yuan. The growth rates of 15 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions exceeded the average rate, where Qinghai was highest -- up to 46.5 percent.

Although the total institutional expense increased compared to last year, the growth rate was lower than the finance expenditure of the same period by 8.6 percent, and the proportion of the per capita fee increased. The shortage of the cultural institutional expense will still deter the development of the cultural cause.

4. Finance and institutional income continued to increase while personnel expense remained high.

The total income of cultural institutions was RMB 11.06 billion yuan in 2001 　 an increase of RMB 968 million yuan compared with the previous year, and up 9.6 percent, in which the cultural finance compensation income accounted for 70 percent. This was an increase of RMB 781 million yuan compared to the year before -- up 12.4 percent. Institutional income was at RMB 2329 million yuan and operational income at RMB 558 million yuan.

From the main subentries in the total income, the arts performance troupe covered RMB 3120 million yuan 　 an increase of RMB 480 million yuan -- up 18.2 percent and accounting for 28.2 percent of the total income (up 2 percent compared to last year. Libraries occupied RMB 1830 million yuan 　 an increase of RMB 190 million, and up 11.6 percent, accounting for 16.5 percent of the total income (up 0.2 percent compared to the year before). The mass cultural income was at RMB 2110 million yuan 　 an increase of RMB 240 million, and up 12.8 percent, accounting for 19.1 percent of the total income (up 0.6 percent compared to last year). From the above-mentioned data, we can conclude that the total income for arts performance troupes, libraries and the mass cultural section increased over the previous year and the rate in the whole nation also increased.

In the finance compensation income, the arts performance troupes covered RMB 2100 million yuan 　 an increase of RMB 370 million, up 21.4 percent, and accounting for 29.6 percent of the total income (up 2.4 percent over last year). Libraries occupied RMB 1530 million yuan 　 an increase of RMB 140 million, up 10.1 percent, and accounting for 21.5 percent of the total income (down 0.5 percent over last year). The mass cultural section was at RMB 1410 million yuan 　 an increase of RMB 230 million, up 23.6 percent, and accounting for 19.5 percent of the total income (up 1.3 percent over last year). The above-mentioned data indicated that the State and governments at all levels attached great importance to the development of culture and increased the investment in cultural causes, and increased the finance compensation income to libraries and mass cultural section compared to last year, especially with arts performance troupes. The institutional income of arts performance troupes was RMB 716 million -- an increase of RMB 110 million compared to last year, up 18.0 percent, and accounting for 30.7 percent of the total income (up 2.8 percent over last year). Libraries were at RMB 158 million 　 an increase of RMB 45.45 million, up 41.1 percent, and accounting for 6.8 percent (up 1.6 percent over last year). The mass cultural section covered RMB 341 million 　 an increase of RMB 82 million, up 31.7 percent, and accounting for 14.6 percent of the total income (up 2.7 percent over the previous year).

In the total income of arts performance troupes, the finance income accounted for 67.3 percent, up 1.7 percent over last year; institutional income accounted for 23 percent, the same level as last year. In the total income of libraries, the finance income accounted for 83.3 percent 　 a reduction of 1.8 percent; institutional income accounted for 8.6 percent, up 1.8 percent over last year. In the mass cultural section, the finance income accounted for 67 percent, up 3.6 percent over last year; institutional income accounted for 16.2 percent, up 2.3 percent over last year. The increase of the institutional income and its rate in the total income indicated that the management of each department and institution has changed to develop markets and cultural causes by means of cultural predominance. In 2001, the total expenditure of cultural institutions was RMB 11.046 billion 　 an increase of RMB 1001 million yuan, up 10 percent, of which the institutional expense was RMB 10.06 billion, and accounting for 91.9 percent of the total expenditure (up 0.9 percent over last year). The expense of payments to practitioners (including salary, subsidy and welfare of the employee, and so on) was RMB 3630 million yuan 　 an increase of RMB 370 million, up 11.3 percent, and accounting for 32.9 percent of the total expenditure (up 0.4 percent over last year). The growth rate of the payment to practitioners was 1.3 percent higher than the growth rate of the total expenditure which indicated that the increased part of the total expenditures was mainly used for the personnel cost and little was left for cultural activities.

From the structure of the main subentries, the total expenditure for arts performance troupes was RMB 3126 million yuan -- an increase of RMB 437 million, up 16.3 percent, in which the institutional expenditure was RMB 3048 million yuan 　 an increase of RMB 399 million, up 15.1 percent, and accounting for 97.5 percent (down 1 percent compared to last year). The expenditure of pay to practitioners was RMB 1330 million yuan -- an increase of RMB 100 million compared to last year, and up 17.3 percent, which accounted for 42.6 percent (up 0.4 percent over last year). Due to the growth rate of the personnel cost of arts performance troupes, it was 1 percent higher than the total expenditure; the growth of the total expenditure was mainly used for personnel costs.

The total expenditure of libraries was RMB 1877 million yuan 　 an increase of RMB 305 million, up 19.4 percent, in which institutional expense reached RMB 1839 million yuan 　 an increase of RMB 316 million compared to last year, up 20.7 percent. This accounted for 98 percent of the total expenditure, up 1.1 percent over last year. The expense of pay to practitioners was RMB 619 million 　 an increased of RMB 120 million, up 24.0 percent, and accounting for 33.0 percent of the total expenditure (up 1.3 percent compared to last year). Due to the growth rate of the personnel cost of libraries, which was higher than the total expenditure by 4.6 percent, the phenomena of personnel cost steals the investment to books still existed.

The total expenditure of the mass cultural section was RMB 2111 million yuan -- an increase of RMB 227 million compared to last year, and up 12.0 percent, where the institutional expenditure was RMB 1914 million yuan -- an increase of RMB 167 million (up 9.6 percent). The operating expense was at RMB 111 million -- an increase of RMB 6.01 million compared to last year -- up 5.7 percent. The expense of payments to practitioners was RMB 989 million 　 an increase of RMB 114 million compared to last year, and up 13.06 percent -- accounting for 46.8 percent of the total expense (up 0.4 percent compared to last year). The growth rate of personnel expense of practitioners was 1 percent higher than that of the total expense, indicating that the growth was mainly used for personnel costs and stole the operational expense, which led to difficulties in implementing public cultural activities.

III. State Increased Investment for Cultural Infrastructure Construction

Since the 10th Five Year Plan was first implemented in 2001, many cultural construction projects were undergoing feasibility research and demonstrations, initiating or submitting applications for approvals on fixed-asset investment projects of the national cultural (relics) system, which had been slightly readjusted.

According to statistics, there were 818 fixed-asset investment projects of the national cultural (relics) system 　 a reduction of 184 compared to the previous year. The planned total investment reached RMB 22.947 billion 　 an increase of RMB 200 million, and up 1.8 percent. The planned construction areas totaled 4, 471 thousand square meters and the infrastructure investment was RMB topped 7,686 million yuan -- an increase of RMB 2,538 million over last year, and up 49.3 percent. The paid-in investment was worth RMB 2,824 million yuan -- a reduction of RMB 551 million compared to last year, and down 16.3 percent, which accounted for 0.077 percent of the actual paid-in investment of fixed assets nationwide. A total of 292 projects were completed -- 81 projects less than in the year before. The finished construction area measured 1,127 thousand square meters -- a 205,000-square-meter fall over the previous year, and down 15.4 percent.

There were 451 infrastructure projects of cultural undertaking nationwide -- a reduction of 175 compared to last year, with total investment of RMB 18.215 billion yuan -- an increase of RMB 1,699 million compared to last year -- up 10.3 percent. The planned construction area spanned 3,236 thousand square meters 　 668,000 square meters less than the year before, and down 17.2 percent. The planned investment was RMB 2,192 million yuan, of which RMB 1,717 million was invested by the State -- an increase of RMB 619 million yuan compared to last year, and up 57.8 percent, which accounted for 78.3 percent of the total planned investment (up 33.4 percent over the year before). The paid-in investment reached RMB 1,984 million yuan -- a fall of RMB 311 million compared to last year, and down 13.6 percent, which accounted for 0.14 percent of the actual paid-in investment of infrastructure nation-wide (down 0.03 percent over the previous year). There were 160 finished projects -- 49 less than last year. The completed construction area totaled 772,000 square meters 　 a 12,000-square-meter reduction over the year before, and down 1.5 percent. A reduction in infrastructure construction projects (including the finished projects), construction areas and paid-in investments occurred because, as with the threshold of the Ninth and the Tenth Five Year plans, the year of 2001 witnessed the transition and regulation of cultural-project construction, and many cultural-construction projects were undergoing feasibility research, demonstrations, initiating or submitting applications for approval. To our gratification, the State boosted its investment in cultural construction greatly in 2001, and the rate of State investment was the highest in recent years. This indicated that the State's increased investment was a driving force encouraging local forces to increase investment and pay attention to cultural-facility construction, which would undoubtedly give birth to a new surge in cultural-facility construction.

The newly launched, large cultural-facility projects with investments of more than RMB 100 million included the reconstruction of the China Art Museum, the Zigong Dinosaur Museum of Sichuan Province, the Futian Library of Shenzhen, the Nanjing Library, and so on. There were 35 projects under construction with investments topping RMB 513 million, 20 of which received more than RMB 100 million. Such projects included: the China National Opera, the Beijing Haidian Opera, the Shanxi Museum, the Arts Center of Liaoning Province, the New Library of Heilongjiang Province, the Shanghai Far East Entertainment Center, the New Museum of Shanghai, the Hangzhou Opera of Zhejiang Province, the Hongxing Cultural Mansion of Zhejiang, the Jiaxing Cultural Center of Zhejiang Province, the Museum of Fujian Province, the Library Business Building of Shandong Province, the Hunan Grand Opera, the Changsha Grand Tianhan Opera of Hunan Province, the Shantou Library of Guangdong Province, the Guangzhou Arts Museum of Guangdong Province, the Shenzhen Concert Hall, the Shenzhen Central Library, the Shantou Library and the Library of Yunnan Province. The finished projects, with an investment of more than RMB 50 million, included: the Tianqiao Theatre, the Hebei Arts Center, the Dalian Modern Museum, the Huangpu Library of Shanghai, the Nanjing Museum Exhibit Hall, the Beijing Opera Zijin Grand Theatre of Jiangsu Province, the New Library of Suzhou, the Jiangxi Museum, the Provincial Painting and Calligraphy Institute, the Ballet Troupe Business Building of Guangzhou, the Hubei Opera and the Chuan Opera Art Center of Chengdu.

IV. Booming Culture and Arts Creation; Prompting the Development of Arts in an All-round Way

In 2001, guided by General Secretary Jiang Zemin's important thought of the Three Represents theory and aiming at boosting the creation of culture and arts, arts and literature workers produced a number of excellent works that were considered thought-provoking, artistically superb and stylistically diverse, which enriched art and prompted the development of arts in an all-round way.

By holding meetings about the creation of the opera, drama and the Peking Opera, music and dancing, folk art, acrobatics, puppet and shadow plays, and arts and literature and information-exchange meetings, the Ministry of Culture unified the creation thoughts, attached great importance to arts creation, guided national arts activities by means of organizing and holding various large arts activities and boosted national arts creation.

First, to vitalize the Peking Opera and to protect the Kunqu (Chinese Classical Drama), the National Excellent Youth Player Evaluation Performance of the Peking Opera was been held to select youth players, and to cultivate trans-century talents in the Peking Opera, which has a profound meaning in prompting its development in 21st century. At the Third China Peking Opera Festival, there were 24 programs performed, exceeding the former two rounds on a large scale. Including performance and prizing, activities like the Symposia on Development and Programs of the Peking Opera in the 21st Century have been held, as well. To our great gratification, Kunqu Art was the first to be crowned a Representative Work of Oral and Intangible Heritage of the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Second, the Fifth National Dance Contest was held with 1,200 attendees. At the same time, the Symposium of China Dance Art Creation Facing the 21st Century was also held, which pointed out the direction for the future creation of the dance community. The Seventh National Juvenile Violin Contest consists of players from 30 troupes. To disseminate the refined arts and to prompt the arts and songs, including the exchanges and tour shows in campuses, the special concert of the arts and songs promotion chorus has been held to lift the curtain of mass song promotion practices. Large activities, such as the Red Flag Carol, the second Yingshanhong Folk Arts Festival, the third China Pingju Festival and Centennial in Memory of Ma Lianliang, have revealed the brilliant process artistically of how the Communist Party of China led the Chinese people to found the People's Republic of China.

Thirdly, the display of arts achievements by means of painting exhibitions was featured. The Sixth National New Year Picture Show not only reviewed the creation of the New Year Pictures in the last eight years, but also increased reviews of the New Year Pictures over the past 100 years, including excellent ones of the People's Republic of China, which enriched the content of the exhibition. The China Painting Exhibition in 100 Years displayed more than 500 excellent Chinese works. The National Arts Academies Bi-Yearly Exhibition was the first exhibition to display the works of painters from arts academies. Focus on Western Arts Exhibition displayed the achievements of the painters of the present age who had traveled deep into the western regions.

A total of 2,590 arts performance units of the cultural system nationwide have performed 4,892 new programs 　 an increase of 37 compared to last year. Arts performance units form 14 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have boosted the new programs, in which Jiangxi Province has earned the highest increase -- 203 over last year. Chongqing enjoyed the highest growth rate, up to 229.7 percent. Troupes of the prefecture level enjoyed the highest growth, up to 182; while the provincial level troupes enjoyed the highest growth rate, up to 36.2 percent. From the structure, the rate of new program creation from troupes at provincial and prefecture levels increased over last year. From the troupes, the new programs from drama, dance drama and song and dance troupes were the highest -- an increase of 234, with the highest growth rate at 82.4 percent. From the type of program, only troupes from drama, children's plays, comical, opera, dance dramas, song and dance light music orchestras boosted new programs. There were 2,517 newly created and premiered programs 　 an increase of 289 compared to last year, and up 13.3 percent. Seventeen provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities had more newly created and premiered programs over last year, in which the State-owned and prefecture-level troupes increased the most -- by 273 and 133 respectively over last year. The number of newly performed traditional operas was 2,649, in which 1,005 were newly created and premiered, accounting for 37.9 percent of the total number of performed programs. A total of 190 dramas, children's plays and comical pieces were newly performed, in which 148 were newly created and premiered, accounting for 77.9percent of the newly performed programs -- up 12.2 percent over last year.

Arts performance troupes have performed 398,000 times nationwide, 163 times on average for each troupe. There were 240,000 performances in rural areas, accounting for 61.1 percent of the total -- down 1.8 percent over last year. The number of home audiences climbed to 274 million with a total income of RMB 570 million 　 an increase of RMB 58 million, and up 11.2 percent -- being the highest in the institutional income, up to 80.2 percent. The troupes and institutions directly under the central government have played more than 100 times in rural areas in Shanxi Province, Hebei Province, Yunnan Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Tibet Autonomous Regions and so on, with audiences numbering more than several hundred thousand. The performances sent messages of concern and warmness from the Communist Party of China and the State Council to old, revolutionary bases and poverty-stricken areas.

Performances at arts-performance venues have dwindled nationwide. There were only 1.15 million performances at the 1,840 performance locations 　 a reduction of 230,000 performances, down 16.9 percent. Only the figures in Zhejiang Province, Guizhou Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regions increased compared to last year. Jiangsu performance numbers fell the most 　 by up to 50,000 -- while Tibet had the highest decreasing rate, up to 76.2 percent. The dated equipment and bad environment of the performance venues and the recession of the film industry were the main reasons cited for the negative growth. Although a number of arts performances has increased compared to last year due to the lower base and ratio in the total index, this could not play a driving force in the industry's growth.

V. Focusing on the Four Cardinal Principles; Prompting the Development of Social Culture and Libraries in an all-round way

1. Increase the conscience of service, strengthen management, and improve the environment to enhance service.

In 2001, there were 421.3 million books in public libraries nationwide, an increase of 11.78 million compared to last year, and up 2.9 percent. Newly purchased books totaled 8.19 million, an increase of 1.27 million compared to last year, and up 18.4 percent. The per capita figure was 0.3 nationwide, keeping with the same level last year. Public libraries have issued 7.916 million library cards, an increase of 1.688 compared to last year, and up 27.1 percent. The total circulation of public libraries was 208 million, an increase of 19.03 million compared to last year, and up 10.1 percent. Books and documents have been borrowed 98.29 million times, an increase of 2.29 million, and up 2.4 percent.

The total income of public libraries reached RMB 1,830 million, an increase of RMB 196 million compared to last year, and up 11.9 percent. Finance compensation was at RMB 1,530 million, an increase of RMB 130 million compared to last year, and up 9.6 percent. Institutional income was at RMB 160 million, an increase of RMB 45.45 million, and up 40.5 percent. Operating income topped RMB 44.65 million, an increase of RMB 11.52 million, and up 34.8 percent. The total expenditure of public libraries was RMB 1,880 million, an increase of RMB 305 million compared to last year, and up 19.4 percent. Each person spent RMB 0.286 on books on average, a reduction of RMB 0.001 over last year, and down 0.3 percent. The expense on books accounted for 19.4 percent of the total expenditure, down 4.2 percent compared to last year.

2. Let the public arts prosper; enrich the cultural life of the public.

There were 43,379 institutions in the mass cultural section in 2001 nationwide that held 89,000 exhibitions 　 a decrease of 2,208 over last year, and down 2.4 percent; 284,000 organized cultural activities, an increase of 7,923 compared to last year, and up 2.9 percent; 156,000 training courses with 4.70 million participants who had completed them 　 an increase of 12,000 courses and a reduction of 240,000 students respectively compared to last year, and up 8.9 and down 4.9 percent respectively; 2.1 million organized video projections with audiences totaling 1,980 million. The books collected by the galleries, cultural centers and stations reached 89.99 million, an increase of 4.38 million over last year, and up 5.1 percent.

Fiscal compensation for the mass cultural section was RMB 1,410 million yuan in 2001, an increase of RMB 225 million compared to last year, and up 19.0 percent. The institutional income was RMB 341 million, an increase of RMB 81.66 million, and up 31.5 percent. The finance compensation income accounted for 67 percent of the total income -- an increase of 6.6 percent compared to last year. The institutional income accounted for 16.2 percent of the total income, up 2.4 percent over last year.

The total expenditure of the mass cultural section was RMB 2111 million yuan in 2001, an increase of RMB 227 million, and up 12.9 percent; gallery expenses, cultural centers and cultural stations totaled RMB 410 million, RMB 930 million and RMB 780 million respectively 　 an increase of RMB 75.73 million, RMB 173 million and RMB 14.51 million respectively compared to last year, and up 22.9, 17.3 and 1.9 percent. The operation expense was at RMB 298 million, an increase of RMB 19.38 million, and up 6.9 percent. The growth rate of the business expense was 6.1 percent lower than the personnel cost.

3. To prompt the development of culture in rural areas and communities, the Ministry of Culture adopted measures to implement research and constitute the related regulations to demonstrate and prompt the development of the social culture and library undertakings.

Measures have been taken to continually prompt the trial evaluation and evaluations of galleries and cultural centers and establish 10 pilot universities for senior citizens to speed up the establishment of the universities in the cultural system. The tasks of naming rural children cultural gardens have continued. Measures have also been taken to summarize the construction experience of fold-arts promotion. On talent construction, measures have been adopted to enhance the construction of culturally advanced counties and speed up the commending tasks of advanced groups and individuals; prompt the professionalization of the library team; continually speed up the construction of knowledge projects; and direct and monitor the implementation of China's digitalized library projects. By means of organizing the awarding of the 11th multi-star opera and arts and the mass cultural scientific and cultural achievements -- the 2nd Dandelion (Pugongying) Prize, the 11th Peacock Minority Vocality Contest and Music Instruments Exhibition -- a number of talents and excellent works have appeared igniting the prosperity of mass arts, folk art and children's arts.

The mass activities demonstrations held at the same time not only spread a healthy, advanced culture, but also enriched the lives of the public. They include: organizing fine-selected programs on rural lives from some provinces to play in Beijing; holding the Third China Chorus Festival of Senior Citizens; organizing the June 1 Children Arts Performance in Beijing; coordinating the Second Minority Arts Joint Performance; publicizing the collection results of the Century Nation Songs and publishing the book Songs of Century Nations, which introduce excellent songs from 56 Chinese nationalities; organizing campaigns for library service publicity week, themed In memory of the 80th anniversary of the CPC, and enabling the science into each and every family of China to bring benefit to the society; national reading month; practices of article-soliciting regarding the CPC representing the development of China's advanced culture; soliciting national farmer articles regarding the new century, new farmer and new rural area; organizing the nation's computer application knowledge contest of public libraries, and so on.

Ⅵ. Great Achievements in Cultural Relics Field

Adhering to the guidance and principles established by the central government and the State Council, cultural-relics workers made great achievements in 2001. Matching the construction of economic construction, measures have been taken to strengthen the examination and approval, statistics and quality inspection in archaeological excavation. In line with the principle key protection, key excavation, the related departments organized and coordinated archaeological and protective activities in the trans-provincial construction projects. Take the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River, for instance. Breakthrough progresses have been made and the cultural development skeleton between 4,000-7,500 years ago has been basically sorted out. Adhering to the principle of focus on protection, give priority to the rescue, the nation's cultural relics workers have adopted measures to simultaneously develop protection, repair, application and increased maintenance practices. Measures have also been taken to enhance the consciousness of refined products. A number of cultural-relics exhibitions of relatively high quality have been held, attracting numerous visitors home and abroad, and receiving excellent social benefits.

There were 2,007 cultural-relics protection and administration institutions nationwide in 2001 and 70 other cultural-relics protection and administration institutions, including 1,461 museums and 119 cultural relics shops. There were 12.60 million pieces of cultural relics in custody, including 53,000 first-grade pieces 　 an increase of 110,000 and 1,000 respectively over last year. A total of 6,360 displays and 5,747 exhibitions have been held with 113 million visitors where overseas visitors totaled 7.68 million 　 an increase of 1.24 million, and up 41.2 percent. There were 23.83 million youth people, accounting for 21.1 percent of total visitors. The income from admission tickets equaled RMB 1,118 million 　 an increase of RMB 170 million compared to last year, and up 17.9 percent. There were 950 units in the field of cultural-relics protection and maintenance and a complete maintenance area of 1.288 million square meters 　 an increase of 593,000 square meters over last year. The central government has allocated RMB 508 million for the maintenance of the protected cultural-relics units, having constructed and renovated a number of museums and storage facilities for cultural relics. In addition, a number of acquired endangered cultural relics were rescued and protected under the plan.

Ⅶ. Culture Markets Developed Steadily in the Practices of Rectification

In 2001, the department in charge of the cultural market adopted measures to regulate and rectify the order of the cultural market and to develop it, enabling the market to be developed steadily in the practices of rectification.

1. Achievements have been made in the rectification and regulation of the cultural market.

Cultural markets have long been a concern of the society. In 2001, to prompt the healthy development of the cultural market, local cultural administration departments cooperated with related departments to organize publicity, investigation, re-registering and examination on a large scale, and executed the law concentratively to achieve effective results.

1) The illegal operation of video games has been tackled at the initial stage.

Using special rectification, the quantity of video game outlets have been reduced 66.6 percent nationwide, eliminating overcrowded and disordered video game venues. According to incomplete statistics, by the end of November, the video game shops were reduced to total 12,000, with only 20,000 left nationwide. Except in a few individual cases, most places were satisfied with the rectification results.

2) The spread of illegal videos has been controlled.

In 2001, with the three special rectifications on video markets in place, the spread of illegal video products has been controlled. First, the disorganized video operations were closed down, which restricted the space for such illegal video products to prosper. By the end of December, 277 such places were closed down, more than 8,600 have their licenses suspended, while others were shut out or moved out. Secondly, measures have been adopted to check up on shops that engaged in illegal video production, crack down on peddlers and unauthorized operations, and a great deal of illegal video products have been confiscated. In the crackdown on video smuggling and pirating, practices have been implemented in more than 200 cities to destroy illegal video products. More than 18.29 million pieces of illegal videos were destroyed in the campaign. In 2001, a total of 90.05 million illegal video products were destroyed. Thirdly, steps have been taken to implement the third-law publicity campaign nationwide, themed Regulate the market order, develop the video industry. A total of 80,000 public good-picture posters classified into five groups were printed and distributed to enable the consciousness of rejecting pirating and protecting intellectual property rights to willingly enter each citizen's mind.

3) Order of Internet outlets notably changed for the better.

Since 2001, the phenomena that many cyber bars engaged in unhealthy computer practices became more and more serious, and the trend to replace video-game operations at such locations emerged. To rectify and regulate cultural market order, measures have been adopted to monitor Internet cafes and to set up and perfect the qualification censorship of practitioners in the Internet on-line service section. Such measures included earnestly carrying out an examination before issuing licenses, employing daily patrol inspection teams, strengthening the management and monitoring of on-line games in service places, strictly forbid off-line games and games with erotic content, including violence, gambling, blindness, superstition, etc. According to statistics, after one year of check ups, rectification, re-examination and re-registering, the quantity of cyber bars fell from 94,000 to the present 48,000. The overabundance, disorder, ill-management and non-regulated situation of Internet outlets has been reduced.

2. Measures have been imposed to increase the cultural market construction.

The important thing in a cultural market is construction. In 2001, with support from the video-production supermarket, chains and e-businesses, which served as the turning point, measures have been taken to actively prompt the readjustment of the structure of video production markets. Enhancing investigation and research on the performance market, research and discussion regarding arts markets and the film market to further increase the construction of the cultural market, were also implemented.

With the rectification and regulation of the operators in the cultural market industry, the institutions have been reduced to 209,000 this year from last year's 220,000; the number of practitioners slipped from 955,000 persons last year to 919,900 persons this year; RMB 3,355 million was realized in profit, an increase of RMB 115 million; an added-value of RMB 11.7 billion was also realized. There were 3,246 cultural market administration and examination institutions at the provincial, city and county levels, with 18,255 practitioners. The 1,485 monitoring institutions were equipped with 8,781 staff members, which increased by 109 institutions and 888 staff respectively compared to last year -- up 7.9 and 11.3 percent.

Ⅷ. Arts Education and Research Developed in the Readjustment

In 2001, having further realized the important role of arts education and research from the prospect of the Three Represents Theory, unified thought, and having identified function readjustment as the turning point, arts education and research workers combined their business tasks to establish an overall concept to imbue working efficiency and quality with a strengthened service consciousness to produce great achievements.

In 2001, there were 221 various educational institutions in cultural departments nationwide, including three institutes of higher learning, 146 vocational schools, 20 cultural cadre institutes and 46 other educational institutions. There were 458 newly enrolled students at higher institutes, 449 graduates and 1,643 enrollments. The vocational schools have enrolled 22,565 students of whom 18,861 have graduated, and where 72,899 are currently enrolled.

The 252 cultural (relics) research institutions with 6,457 practitioners in 2001 increased by 10 schools and 507 practitioners respectively compared to last year -- up 4.1 percent and 8.5 percent. The number of researchers with senior and intermediate credentials rose by 154 from 3,021, accounting for 46.8 percent of the total practitioners -- a reduction of 1.4 percent from last year.

In 2001, 467 research projects were completed -- 31 more projects compared to last year and up 7.1 percent. Sixty-six works won national prizes, accounting for 14.1 percent of the total scientific research 　 a 3.2 percent reduction over last year. Ninety-six projects were awarded departmental and provincial prizes, accounting for 20.5 percent of the total projects. A number of arts activities were also launched -- the First Western Intermediate Arts School Young Teacher Dance Contest and Dance Education Symposium, National Juvenile Clarinet Contest, the Seventh National Juvenile Violin Contest, the Qu Yongxi Model Music Education Prize, and the National Arts Academy Excellent Works Exhibition of 2001 Graduates 　 which not only enhanced the management of arts education, but also improved the teaching quality of secondary arts schools.

Ⅸ. Great Achievements Obtained in Foreign Cultural Exchanges

In 2001, guided by Deng Xiaoping's theory and Comrade Jiang Zemin's theory of the Three Represents and by combining the features and changes of the current international situation, foreign cultural exchanges have kept in pace with the times. With positive planning and bold reforms, a series of cultural exchange activities were held that had a profound influence 　 a meeting in Beijing, French Cultural Week, Asian Cultural Week, etc. Measures were adopted to join in and hold international, multilateral cultural activities, steadily carry out cultural exchanges with other developing counties, enhance cultural exchanges with important countries and make new progress in cultural exchanges with Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

There were 2,042 national cultural exchange projects with 30,075 participants, including 1,035 foreign cultural exchanges with 24,385 participants. In foreign exchange projects, there were 22 governmental cultural delegations and cultural official delegations with 95 attendees, 422 performance arts groups with 11,489 people and 74 arts exhibitions with 505 members. In 2001 48 overseas governmental cultural delegations and cultural official delegations were received with 244 people, 318 performance arts groups with 9,151 participants, 112 arts exhibitions with 497 members, including 363 cultural exchange projects between China and Hong Kong with 5,684 people; 76 projects with Macao with 1,666 people, 297 projects with Taiwan with 5,684 people. That same year China participated in 48 various international arts contests, winning 12 gold, two silver and three bronze medals; 10 other prizes were also secured by the motherland. The China International Cultural Association received 19 visiting delegations with 51 participants, and organized and sent five visiting groups with 75 participants. It also held 12 large-scale activities with 486 people.

In 2001, four agreements, two memorandums of understanding and 25 cultural exchange plans were signed, citing cultural cooperation agreements with Indonesia, Austria and the United Arab Emirates and memorandums of understanding with Lebanon and Ireland. New annual cultural exchange plans with the following 25 countries -- Mongolia, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, Congo (Kinshasa), Uruguay, Venezuela, Australia, Malta, Portugal, Sweden, Belgium, White Russia, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, United Arab Emirate, Libya, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, etc. 　 were also implemented.