Senior leader urges development of socialist culture

SHIJIAZHUANG, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese leader Li Changchun on Wednesday called for more efforts to develop socialist culture with Chinese characteristics.

In an inspection tour of Hebei Province, Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, urged cultural authorities to reform and innovate to vigorously develop the culture sector.

Li summed up progress in the culture sector since the 16th CPC congress in 2002 as a balance of the development of different aspects of the sector.

"In developing the culture sector, we must correctly handle the relationships between public cultural services and cultural industries, social influence and economic returns, Chinese culture and foreign culture, and the roles of government funding and non-government investment," Li said.

Visiting the old revolutionary base of Xibaipo, where the CPC central committee was stationed before moving to Beijing in 1949, he asked local officials to file and digitalize the videos, photos and items that documented the history of the Party.