According to sources for the promotion of the project,
Duplication of China’s Rare Ancient Books, operating expenses on
cultural undertakings sponsored directly by the central government
in 2002 increased by 46.3 percent, marking a historical high in
China’s investment in cultural undertakings and surpassing the
growth rate of state fiscal revenue. Now, a batch of state-level
cultural projects is under high-speed construction.
The Duplication of Rare China’s Ancient Books is a key cultural
development project sponsored by both the Ministry of Culture and
the Ministry of Finance. The project is to systematically duplicate
rare, ancient books and publish duplicated versions. Original
editions of the rare works were either handwritten or
block-printed. The project aims to protect, develop and utilize
rare resources.
When the project was finally set up in 2000, 3.5 million yuan
(US$420,000) was allocated for the start-up of the project. Then,
in 2001 and 2002, 40 million yuan (US$4.8 million) was further
allocated for the project. So far, 90 varieties of books in the
first phase of the project have been published, gaining wide praise
from?academic circles. The total investment will reach 120
million yuan (US$14.5 million) for the whole completion of the
project.
Another mammoth cultural project, the National Theater, will
cost a total investment of 2.688 billion yuan (US$320 million).
Located in the west side of the Great Hall of the People, the
National Theater, which is under construction, will cover 118,900
square meters. The theater will have an opera house, a concert
hall, a drama house and an arts exhibition hall. It will be built
into a world-class cultural space with a perfect combination of
traditional and modern style, as well as using a romantic and
realistic style.
In addition, the New National Library of China is another big
cultural project, which has been allocated 1.23 billion yuan
(US$140 million) and is under construction at present. Some other
cultural reconstruction and extension projects include the National
Museum, the China Art Gallery, the National Modern Drama Theater,
and Tianqiao Theater.
The project, National Top-notch Artistic Stage Works, with an
annual investment of 40 million yuan (US$4.8 million) began this
year. In two years time, some 60 top-quality plays will be put on
the stage and will all have a lengthy run.
The state has also allocated 20 million yuan (US$2.4 million)
each year for projects on national culture information sharing.
The project of compiling China Canon with an estimated
investment of over 100 million yuan (US$12 million) will kick off
in the near future.
The Dunhuang Scripture Writing Hall in the National Library of
China has?unmatched conditions in the world for a cultural
relics collection. All the collected articles were put in more than
10,000 specially-made nanmu (Phoebe nanmu) boxes.
In addition, some massive cultural projects will start
one-by-one, including compilation of the History of the Qing
Dynasty, national folk culture conservation, and collections of
20th Century fine art masters, and so on.
Wang Jiaxin, director of the Education, Science and Culture
Department of the Ministry of Finance, said that China’s financial
sector is to actively support and coordinate with cultural
structural reform, so as to promote development of cultural
undertakings and the culture industry. He believes China’s culture
field is to become more prosperous.
(China.org.cn translated by Zhang Tingting, August 25, 2003)