MCLC: cultural advances

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: cultural advances
***********************************************************

Source: NYT (11/11/12):
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/12/world/asia/china-at-party-congress-touts-
its-cultural-advances.html

China, at Party Congress, Lauds Its Cultural Advances
By IAN JOHNSON

BEIJING — China’s government extolled the fruits of 10 years of reform in
its cultural sector on Sunday, saying it had privatized thousands of
publishing companies, newspapers and cultural groups while promoting
industries that can spread China’s influence abroad — all firmly under
party control.

Speaking to reporters during the Communist Party’s 18th congress, several
leading cultural regulators praised the achievements of the party leader,
Hu Jintao, over the last decade. Mr. Hu is scheduled to step down this
week and turn over power to his designated successor, Xi Jinping.

Last week, Mr. Hu declared at the opening of the Congress that “culture is
the lifeblood of a nation” and that “the strength and international
competitiveness of Chinese culture are an important indicator of China’s
power and prosperity and the renewal of the Chinese nation.”

The participants in the news conference, one of a series over the last few
days intended to highlight Mr. Hu’s accomplishments, said that China had
made great strides toward achieving its cultural goals.

The officials made their case with a blizzard of statistics: China
produced 558 feature films in 2011 compared with 140 in 2003; it now has
9,200 movie screens versus 1,953 in 2003; it has listed 43 cultural sites
with the United Nations, the third-highest number in the world; it has set
up 600,000 rural reading rooms and offers a free movie each month in
villages; and it has 2,115 museums that do not charge for admission. Last
year, it published 370,000 books, which officials said was more than any
other country in the world. China Central Television has 249 million
viewers in 171 countries. And the government has spent $30.4 million over
the last decade to support 55 minority ethnic groups in China.

Another theme was privatization. More than 2,000 cultural troupes have
been privatized, although the government continues to sponsor worthy
productions from a public fund that now has a treasury of $1.2 billion.

None of this means that the government has relaxed control, officials said.

“Guidance is the soul” of these moves, said Tian Jin, party secretary of
the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. “We always insist
on political responsibility, social responsibility and cultural
responsibility.”

Mr. Tian said some industries were facing challenges. For filmmakers, an
agreement this year with the United States allows more American companies
to distribute more movies and reap a greater share of the box office in
China. He said that from January to October, box office revenues amounted
to $2.1 billion. Chinese films, however, lost their dominance in their
home market, accounting for 41.4 percent of this gross.

But Mr. Tian refused to blame the influx of foreign films, saying Chinese
films needed to improve.

“The immediate reason is the strong attack by the imported movies,” he
said. “But the basic reason is that our competitiveness needs to increase.”

Mr. Tian also said that foreign films were not banned from Chinese
theaters during national holidays when the theaters are often crowded, a
claim often made by importers. He said that foreign distributors
“voluntarily” decided not to show their products during this time “out of
consideration” for local sensibilities.

Chinese films, Mr. Tian said, have done less well abroad. In 2011, 55
Chinese films were distributed in 22 countries, grossing about $318
million.

Mr. Tian pledged to do better by carrying out “the 18th Party Congress
spirit.”