China reforms government-funded theaters, troupes

BEIJING - All the 2,103 cultural units including theaters and art troupes previously sponsored by governments of different levels in China have been restructured under market-oriented cultural reform.

This was disclosed by Minister of Culture Cai Wu at a recent conference held by a leading group of the ministry in charge of cultural reform, which was launched by the central authorities at the end of 2011.

So far, 61 percent of these organizations have been turned into companies, while 20 percent of them were shut down and the rest 19 percent shifted to other businesses, according to the official.

The majority of these cultural units have regained vitality and creativity, together with improving operation and revenue, he added.

The government, however, will exert more efforts to keep the reform going on and help these art companies carry out further reform measures, so as to help them become modern corporations competent under market circumstances, Cai noted.