Speakers:
Mr. Lu Yingchuan, vice minister of culture and tourism
Mr. Du Jiang, vice minister of culture and tourism
Mr. Chen Binbin, director general of the Public Service Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT)
Mr. Gao Zheng, director general of the International Exchange and Cooperation Bureau of the MCT
Chairperson:
Mr. Chen Wenjun, director general of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and spokesperson of the SCIO
Date:
Dec. 14, 2023
Chen Wenjun:
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO). This is the 31st briefing in the series "Embarking on the New Journey — A Government Perspective." The Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) will brief you on accelerating the building of a leading country in culture and promoting the high-quality development of culture and tourism industries. Today, we have invited Mr. Lu Yingchuan, vice minister of culture and tourism; Mr. Du Jiang, vice minister of culture and tourism; Mr. Chen Binbin, director general of the Public Service Department of the MCT; and Mr. Gao Zheng, director general of the International Exchange and Cooperation Bureau of the MCT, to answer your questions.
Now, I'll give the floor to Mr. Lu for his introduction.
Lu Yingchuan:
Friends from the media, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. I am delighted to speak with you on accelerating the building of a leading country in culture and promoting the high-quality development of culture and tourism industries.
Building a leading country in culture and promoting the high-quality development of culture and tourism industries are important strategic decisions made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. The 20th CPC National Congress provided comprehensive directives in this regard. The MCT has diligently studied and implemented Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, fully implemented the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, and taken a series of targeted and effective measures. We have undertaken substantial groundwork with a focus on long-term efforts, resulting in positive steps toward the high-quality development of culture and tourism.
First, we adhere to the principles of cultural enrichment and empowerment, fostering the prosperous development of cultural undertakings and industries. We have increased support for stage arts and visual arts creation, implementing the New Era Series Art Creation project, organizing exhibitions of outstanding stage arts, and showcasing fine art. In the first 11 months of this year, the MCT hosted 27 exhibitions with 900,000 in-person visits and over 1.8 billion online views. Various stage productions, including the dance dramas "Wing Chun" and "Cavalry," the Yue opera "New Longmen Inn," and Chinese national opera "Daughter of the Party," have gained widespread popularity and acclaim. Progress has continued to be made in enhancing the quality and efficiency of urban and rural public cultural service systems, establishing innovative public cultural spaces, developing digital public cultural services, and implementing cultural projects that benefit the public. We have organized large-scale cultural events such as "village evenings" and square dance performances. In 2023, more than 20,000 "village evening" presentation events were held nationwide, with total participation of approximately 130 million instances. We have refined cultural economic policies, implemented a strategy to drive the development of the cultural industry through major cultural projects, actively fostered new business formats and models, launched a series of consumer promotion activities, and carried out specialized reforms in performance ticketing, scripted entertainment and other areas. The cultural industry has experienced rapid growth, with 342,000 commercial performances, box office revenue of 31.54 billion yuan and 111 million views in the first three quarters of this year, representing increases of 121%, 84.2% and 188.5%, respectively, compared to the same period in 2019.
Second, we adhere to the principles of upholding tradition while innovating, and maintaining confidence and self-strengthening. We have protected, inherited and promoted China's excellent traditions and culture. We have actively implemented major projects such as "A Comprehensive Study on the Origin and Early Development of Chinese Civilization" and "Chinese Archaeology," strengthening the protection and utilization of cultural relics and ancient books, advancing the fourth national cultural relics census, and implementing the ancient Chinese books protection plan. General Secretary Xi Jinping's inspection of the China National Archives of Publications and Culture, along with his important instruction on carrying forward Chinese culture in the era of national prosperity and social stability has strengthened our confidence and determination to promote the protection and utilization of ancient books. Innovations in exhibitions and the development of cultural and creative products aim to better meet the public's needs. The surge in popularity of museums and art galleries has emerged as a notable phenomenon and social trend. Significant strides are being made in the systematic protection of intangible cultural heritage (ICH), with progress in promoting the identification of the sixth batch of national representative inheritors of intangible cultural heritage and the announcement of 10 national-level cultural and ecological reserves. Activities such as International Museum Day, Cultural and Natural Heritage Day, and events such as "Sharing Tea and Cultural Heritage With the World" have been organized. We have actively promoted the inclusion of the Central Axis of Beijing and the Spring Festival as World Heritage, while efforts to list the "Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er" on the World Heritage List have increased China's count of World Heritage Sites to 57.
Third, we maintained a people-centric approach to promoting tourism and met people's demands for better lives through tourism development. The general office of the State Council issued measures for releasing tourism consumption potential and achieving sound tourism development. The MCT also rolled out a series of policies and measures to enrich quality tourism products. We promoted tourism among the general public, promoted smart tourism and green tourism, and advocated for civilized tourist behavior. We compiled a directory of tourism resources at the highest grade in China, tried to incubate smart tourism projects that provide immersive experiences and organized promotional activities to encourage proper tourist behavior. We implemented a program to boost rural tourism and, as a result, eight villages have been listed as "best tourism villages" by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), highlighting a typical case of how the culture and tourism sector has empowered rural revitalization. We advanced public services for tourism, enhancing the construction and management of scenic paths and tourist toilets and improving roads, parking, telecommunications, and tour guide services, among other measures, to offer added convenience and benefits to the public. We carried out activities to celebrate China Tourism Day and promote domestic tourism as well as hosted expos such as the China International Travel Mart. We propelled the integrated development of culture and tourism, boosted intangible heritage tourism, tourism with educational purposes, city walks, and tourism performances, and established national demonstration areas for the integrated development of the cultural industry and tourism.
Fourth, we stayed firmly rooted in Chinese culture while promoting exchange and mutual learning between different civilizations in order to widely spread Chinese culture and expand its influence. We implemented the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) and organized art performances at the China-Central Asia Summit, the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, and other important state occasions. We organized year-round cultural and tourism activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Spain. We hosted the first Liangzhu Forum, the Silk Road Artists' Rendezvous, and performances to remember the Philadelphia Orchestra's visit to China 50 years ago. President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to the forum and replied to letters from the participating artists. We established the Alliance for Cultural Heritage in Asia, hosted the World Tourism Alliance (WTA) Xianghu Dialogue, and actively took part in formulating international norms. We advanced the "Cultural Silk Road" program, hosted activities to celebrate the Spring Festival, and shared China's tea culture with people around the world, promoting Chinese culture and tourism resources all around. We resumed Chinese citizens' group tours to 138 countries operated by domestic travel agencies and online tourism enterprises. We carried out the "Nihao China" promotional campaign to boost China's tourism globally and drove the recovery of inbound and outbound travel.
In the new era, we will strive to fulfill our new missions. We will thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, fully implement the essence of the 20th CPC National Congress, and maintain stability while pursuing progress with our work. We will fully implement the new development philosophy, making no mistakes, quickly shape a new development paradigm and promote high-quality development. Guided by core socialist values, we will continue to enhance the creation of cultural artworks and the provision of outstanding cultural and tourism products to meet people's cultural needs with enriched products and boost their moral strength. We will promote the integrated development of culture and tourism, and widely spread Chinese culture and expand its influence with the aim to achieve more solid outcomes in enhancing China's cultural strength and spurring the sound development of the culture and tourism sector.
At this press conference, I'd like to express my gratitude to the journalists and concerned people who have long been supportive of our work in the culture and tourism sector. Now, my colleagues and I are ready to take questions. Thank you!
