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An'hui to launch more cultural flagships

By Ji Fan (Chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-03-23 21:34

HEFEI - Zhang Baoshun, secretary of Anhui Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said on March 22 that the eastern Chinese province is to launch a number of local-style cultural flagships and make a jump to a strong cultural province with every effort.

As cultural development is an important component in the cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, promoting the vigorous development and prosperity of Anhui’s culture will provide powerful ideological guarantee, motivation and cultural support for the rise of the province with 67.9 million residents, said Zhang.

Speaking at a grand rally in Hefei, capital of Anhui province, calling for promoting the construction of a strong cultural province, Zhang affirmed that Anhui must energetically carry forward institutional innovation and accelerate the transformation of government functions so as to create a modern cultural market featured by unified openness and fair competition.

Renowned for its Yellow Mountain, Anhui is also home to the Huangmei Opera ---a local opera genre basically derived from the folk dancing and singing, Hui Opera, Xin’an School of Painting, Xin'an Medical Science, Jian’an Literature, Tongcheng School of Literature, Huizhou Merchants and the country’s first satiric novel -- The Scholars -- by Wu Jingzi.

Moreover, emphasis should also be laid on innovation in cultural products and means of dissemination, he noted, calling for using new and high-tech means to elevate dissemination channels and making the role of Internet into full play in disseminating cultures, so as to witness faster communication and wider coverage.

“We must persist in putting stress on industry expansion to upgrade the competitiveness and widen the influence of Anhui’s culture by fostering the growth of key cultural enterprises and launching a number of cultural giants with local style,” he said.

Governor Wang Sanyun also emphasized the importance of building a strong cultural province with an urge on attentions to be paid to five key areas, which cover resource utilization, platform construction, production of excellent works, cultural industries upgrading and transformation, as well as the leading role of cultures among other spheres in cultural and ethnical progress.

The conference in Hefei was presided over by Zang Shikai, Anhui’s publicity chief who acts as a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Anhui Provincial Committee.