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Read in Chinese
Speakers:
Sun Yeli, deputy director of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC)
Sheng Ronghua, deputy director of the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission and vice minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC)
Lu Yingchuan, vice minister of culture and tourism
Meng Dong, vice minister of the National Radio and Television Administration of China (NRTA)
Chairperson:
Chen Wenjun, spokesperson of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee
Date:
Aug. 18, 2022
Chen Wenjun:
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee. Today, we are holding the 21st press conference under the theme of "China in the past decade." We will be briefing you on the publicity and cultural work in the new era and answering your questions. Next, I would like to introduce the speakers taking part in today's press conference. They are: Mr. Sun Yeli, deputy director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee; Mr. Sheng Ronghua, deputy director of the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission and vice minister of the CAC; Mr. Lu Yingchuan, vice minister of culture and tourism; and Mrs. Meng Dong, vice minister of the NRTA .
Sun Yeli:
Friends from the press, good morning. I am very pleased to have this opportunity to brief you on the publicity and cultural work in the new era. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, we have upheld socialism with Chinese characteristics, rallied public support, fostered a new generation with sound values and ethics, developed Chinese culture and built a positive image of China. We have also tackled problems at their roots, kept to the right path and made innovations. Adhering to a people-centered approach, we have pressed ahead with developing a strong socialist culture in China and improved the quality of cultural works. The Party and people of all ethnic groups have greater confidence in Chinese culture, social unity has been intensified, and the ideological field has changed fully and fundamentally. All these have provided an ideological guarantee, public support, motivation and cultural prerequisites for breaking new ground in the great cause of the Party and nation. I will introduce our work from the following four aspects:
First, the whole Party and the whole nation have stronger belief and convictions. We have upheld the guiding role of Marxism, educated the whole Party and the people in the latest achievements of adapting Marxism to China's realities, and guided them to further study Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We have promoted the study of books related to the thought. We have edited and published four volumes of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China," as well as an outline of the thought and Q&A book. We have improved the performance and efficiency of Party committees and Party leadership groups in theoretical study, and created a fine atmosphere in the Party and society for studying the thought. We have also created new ways and methods for publicizing theories. We have published articles such as "Socialism Has Not Failed China" and "China Has Not Failed Socialism," created special TV programs such as "Historic Journey" and "Making a New China," compiled reference books to interpret the theories, and made good use of the Xuexi Qiangguo platform, thus promoting the Party's innovative theories among the people. Additionally, we have strengthened the research and publicity of theories. Utilizing the project on researching and developing Marxism, we have built key Marxist colleges across China, established research institutes on Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and generated a series of important studies providing in-depth analysis. By doing so, officials and the people can understand why our Party is capable, why Marxism works and why socialism with Chinese characteristics can benefit the people. This has given them greater faith and confidence in realizing the Chinese national rejuvenation by upholding socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Second, the sphere of public opinion has been made cleaner, more positive and more inspiring. We have coordinated domestic and overseas publicity, both online and offline, and publicized and explained the Party's guidelines, principles and policies. Officials and the people have greater consensus on and appreciation for the CPC Central Committee's major policies, have greater trust and confidence on the CPC Central Committee, and mainstream opinion has grown more robust and positive. We meticulously planned celebrations for the centenary of the CPC's founding, the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up, the successful building of a moderately prosperous society in all aspects, and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. By doing so, we have bolstered the morale of the Chinese people to unite and work hard. The core socialist values have taken root in the people's minds, been protected by laws and regulations, and integrated into people's daily lives. We have launched themed publicity campaigns for the public, established New Era Civilization Practice Centers, and selected and publicized a number of role models to guide people to learn from them. Focusing on media integration, significant changes have taken place in the various methods of spreading content at different levels. Major state media outlets have transformed using innovative methods, 2,585 county-level integrated media centers have been put into use, and the penetration, guidance, influence and credibility of the media have been strengthened. We have improved our ability in international communication in a bid to tell China's stories well, to make China's voice heard, to deepen exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and to promote the common values of humanity. In this way, we can present an image of a reliable, loveable and respectable China, and boost the influence of Chinese culture.
Third, the cultural undertakings and industries have flourished. We have deepened cultural reform to meet people's increasing demands for cultural products. We have strengthened planning, compiled and implemented the Outline of Building a Strong Socialist Culture in China (2021-2035) and the 13th and 14th five-year plans for cultural development, and deepened supply-side structural reform in the cultural sector to guide high-quality cultural development. We have also launched major cultural projects, and built the Museum of the Communist Party of China and the National Archives of Publications and Culture. We have set up national parks under the themes of the Great Wall, Grand Canal, Long March, Yellow River and Yangtze River, and developed cultural programs such as the "Library for National Rejuvenation," the third edition of "Encyclopedia of China" and the new edition of the "General History of China." Additionally, we have created excellent cultural works such as the film "The Battle at Lake Changjin," the TV series "The Age of Awakening" and "Minning Town," which were well-received and went viral. China produces the largest number of books, TV series and animations worldwide. The scale of its film market has broken records several times, with its number of films screened and box office returns both ranking first in the world. Meanwhile, we have focused on creative evolution and development, launched the project of inheriting fine traditional Chinese culture, and launched explorations into the origin of Chinese civilization. We have promoted the major "Chinese Archaeology" project, established the Chinese Academy of History, and made progress in utilizing and protecting cultural relics and ancient books, and inheriting intangible cultural heritage.
Fourth, governance of the publicity and cultural sector has been advanced. We have upheld CPC leadership over publicity and ideological work, and the Party's leadership over publicity and culture has grown ever stronger. We have focused on innovating cultural institutions and mechanisms, and established a framework for cultural reform, so as to successfully reform publicity organizations. We have also rolled out Party regulations such as the CPC regulations on publicity and communication work, made and revised laws including the Law on Guaranteeing Public Cultural Services, the Film Industry Promotion Law and the Copyright Law. The legal system for socialist culture with Chinese characteristics has been improved. Additionally, we have improved our abilities and conduct. We have arranged campaigns to help those working on publicity to improve their ability to reach the grassroots, observe clearly, think profoundly and write powerfully. We have launched campaigns to encourage them to produce works drawing inspiration from everyday life and the experiences of the people. We have implemented plans to build talented teams in the fields of theory, literature, art, press and publication. Our purpose is to forge a workforce that is politically upright, highly competent, innovative and practical-minded.
That is all for my introduction. Thank you.
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Chen Wenjun:
Thank you, Mr. Sun Yeli. The floor is now open for questions. Please identify the media outlet you represent before raising questions.
CCTV:
After completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, people's living standards and intellectual and cultural lives have been greatly improved. What work has been done in promoting the construction of public cultural services and meeting the people's ever-growing intellectual and cultural needs? Thank you.
Sun Yeli:
Thanks for your question. This question involves the Publicity Department, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Radio and Television Administration, and the like. I will brief you on some information first, and my colleagues from other departments will deliver supplements.
Over the years, continuous efforts have been made to standardize and equalize public cultural services, including improving the coverage of public cultural service facilities in both urban and rural areas to provide the people with more diversified, more convenient, and more targeted cultural products and services. We have mainly done the following work:
First, we have launched cultural projects to benefit the public. The outlines of the 13th Five-Year Plan and 14th Five-Year Plan have made clear arrangements to construct public cultural services. We have focused on promoting a series of projects such as national cultural information resources sharing, radio and television services to every household in rural areas, building libraries for farmers, and projecting free films in rural areas. All these projects aim to make the public cultural services system more robust. By the end of 2021, there were 2,542 radio and television broadcasting agencies, 3,215 public libraries, 3,316 cultural centers, 6,183 museums, and more than 40,000 townships (sub-district) cultural stations, and about 570,000 village-level cultural service centers, and over 580,000 farmers' libraries across China. So far, all public libraries, cultural centers, art galleries, cultural stations, and most museums have been opened to the public for free.
Second, we have improved the provision of cultural products and services. We have built a national public cultural cloud, smart radio and television systems, libraries, museums, and digital farmers' libraries. In 2021, the number of licensed readers in public libraries nationwide reached 103 million, and the public cultural service institutes served more than 800 million people. Museums across the country held 36,000 exhibitions and 320,000 educational activities, receiving nearly 800 million visitors, with relevant website page views reaching 4.1 billion. We have also carried out extensive public cultural activities such as "Bringing Culture into Thousands of Families," Heart-to-Heart Art Troupe's performances, "Introducing Opera Art to Campuses," "Taking Operas to the Countryside," and so on. Programs such as "Chinese Poetry Conference" and "Nostalgia in Mind" have been well received by the public.
Third, we have innovated the operating mechanism for public services. We have guided and encouraged private actors to participate in the operation and service providing of public cultural service facilities and formed a new model of diverse social supply. We have also accelerated the construction of the central-branch system of cultural centers and libraries. As of June this year, a total of 2,674 counties, cities, and districts across China have built the central-branch system of cultural centers, and 2,642 counties, cities, and districts have established the central-branch library system.
I will now give the floor to my colleagues from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the National Radio and Television Administration.
Lu Yingchuan:
Thanks for Mr. Sun Yeli's introduction to public cultural services. I will add a few more points. Over the past 10 years, our policy focus has mainly been on improving the quality of public cultural services based on the initial realization of the equalization of basic public cultural services. In the past, we were discussing "whether there are public cultural services or not," and now we are focusing on "whether the services are good or not." As for the specific policy measures, we have grasped the following aspects:
First, we have strengthened the construction of the legal system in public cultural services. For example, over the past 10 years, we have rolled out several new laws and regulations, such as The Law on Guaranteeing Public Cultural Services, the Law on Public Libraries, and the Regulations on Museums. At the same time, we have formulated and introduced relevant national standards for basic public cultural services and promoted local governments to develop implementation standards and corresponding guidance catalogs to further clarify the coverage of basic public cultural services, all of which have effectively ensured the popularization and promotion of public cultural services.
Second, we have advanced comprehensive and deepening reform to promote further the vitality and the expansion of the coverage of public cultural services through mechanism innovation. For example, as Mr. Sun Yeli mentioned just now, we have implemented the central-branch system of county-level cultural centers and libraries. At present, more than 92% of the counties in China have established a central-branch system of cultural centers and libraries. In the past, there were about 6,300 libraries and cultural centers in such areas. By 2021, the number had reached 95,000, which significantly improved the efficiency of public cultural services and expanded its coverage.
Third, we have actively and extensively carried out public cultural activities. We have always seen public cultural activities as our key task and continued strengthening and improving the construction of public cultural performing troupes. Currently, there are more than 450,000 public cultural performing troupes across China, growing by 50% compared to 2012. We will continue to organize and launch performances that are widely welcomed by the people, such as singing and square dancing of the general public, as well as the "village gala" in the countryside, to create an artistic stage exclusive to the general public. During the 2022 Spring Festival, about 118 million online and offline participants attended the Spring Festival Gala demonstration activities nationwide. It should be said that these cultural activities have become prevalent events among the Chinese people.
Fourth, we promoted digital public cultural projects to further improve cultural services. In the past 10 years, with the support of the central budget, we created and provided a total of 3,844 terabytes of digital resources including e-books and videos, which equals the total amount of digital resources from 10 provincial-level libraries. This greatly enhanced the convenience and accessibility of the services.
That's all I have to add, thank you.
Meng Dong:
I have some additional information to provide. Over the past 10 years, public broadcasting and television services have also achieved historic accomplishments, which can be summarized in three aspects:
First, we realized accessibility of radio and TV programs in every village and every household. In these years, we pushed forward with the digital renovation of cable TV networks and radio-transmitting stations and the application of direct broadcasting satellites in remote rural households, focusing on filling the blanks. As of the end of 2021, radio and television programs nationwide had covered 99.48% and 99.66% of China's population, respectively.
Second, we moved from providing content to providing quality content. We implemented a series of projects to benefit the people, ensuring their rights and interests in enjoying radio and television services. And we are now pushing programs that are aimed at offering convenient and quality radio and television services for all people to enjoy at any time and any place via different end devices and mobile devices.
Third, we upgraded services from single to comprehensive ones. In 10 years, smart radio and television networks and platforms, and emergency broadcasting systems, have played a positive role in local Party committees and governments improving policy promotion and disaster prevention and reduction. During the pandemic, emergency broadcasting, which is all over rural areas, spread knowledge regarding epidemic prevention across farming fields in various dialects. Broadcasting and television networks helped students continue with their learning when schools suspended classes. Broadcasting and television and the online video sector supported the development of the agriculture industry, agricultural population, and rural areas by enabling live-streaming e-commerce, which makes product sales industrialized, and turns online traffic into sales.
That's all I have to add, thank you.
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People's Daily:
The socialist core values were raised at the 18th CPC National Congress as an important concept. And 10 years later, the values have been deeply rooted among the people, fully demonstrating the mainstream values of society. Can you tell us the measures taken to promote a deep understanding of these values? Thank you.
Sun Yeli:
Thanks for this question. I just introduced some relevant information and will now add some more. Fostering and practicing core socialist values is the fundamental work for strengthening our cohesion and consolidating foundations. The values describe what kind of country and society we aim to build and what kind of citizens we aim to cultivate. Such values cannot be cultivated overnight, rather, it requires continued efforts. Over the past 10 years, we have focused on fostering new generations to shoulder the great task of national rejuvenation. We made solid efforts in a thorough and integrated way, with a focus on details, in a bid to further cultivate these values.
First, we enhanced the top design. We established and improved the system of Party and state awards and honors. Important ceremonies were held to highlight China's spirit and China's values, including the ceremony marking the centenary of the CPC. These hugely inspired people's devotion to the Party, the country, and society. We issued and implemented policies regarding the promotion of citizens' morals, fostering patriotism, and strengthening and improving the political beliefs in the new era. We pushed the formulation and revision of laws on the national anthem, the national flag, the national emblem, and the protection of heroes and martyrs. These provided institutional guarantee and legal support for promoting the socialist core values.
Second, we laid emphasis on the exemplary vanguard role. We let individuals and groups with outstanding performance to set the examples. We awarded the ‘Models of the Times' title to 136 groups and individuals. A total of 299 people received the title of national model of high morality, 300 were honored as beautiful and hardworking, 736 as the most beautiful, and 11,585 as ‘Good Samaritans of China.' We have created an atmosphere for people to respect virtues and good deeds and learn from virtuous persons. We also organized thematic educational activities for the public to participate in, which are titled "faithfully follow the Party" and "join the efforts of building a strong country and national rejuvenation." We hosted lectures on the core values and rolled out public service ads, short films, and micro-videos in a bid to bring change gradually.
Third, we paid attention to practicing and cultivating the values. We promoted cultural and ideological progress through public activities. We selected and commended a total of 256 civilized national cities (districts), 4,625 civilized villages and towns, 7,444 civilized entities, 799 civilized families, and 1,135 civilized schools. These efforts have paid off. We enhanced the work in building centers for improving cultural life in the new era. We carried out public benefit activities to help the poor and those in need, raise funds for charity, and organized volunteer teachers, and offered aid to students. We pushed the systemization of volunteer services in the name of Lei Feng. We tackled prominent moral issues, promoted the improvement of the social climate, practiced austerity, and prevented waste of food by promoting campaigns such as "Clear Your Plate" and "be a decent diner". The level of civilization of society has remarkably improved thusly. Thank you.
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Bloomberg:
In 2022, the Cyberspace Administration kicked off the Qinglang campaign that removed online content from short videos, live streams, blogs, newsletters, and content feeds created by algorithms. Could you give us more details about what the results of the campaign were? Moreover, going forward, will the Cyberspace Administration focus on similar operations? How will China's digital content space evolve in the future? Thank you.
Sheng Ronghua:
Thank you for your questions. In recent years, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission has fully implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's important thought on building China's strength in cyberspace, as well as the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee. We have upheld the development philosophy of putting people first to continue and deepen the Qinglang campaign addressing prominent online issues of great concern to netizens and the public. We have taken comprehensive measures in the campaign and required website platforms to shoulder primary responsibility. These efforts have improved the online environment, enhanced primary responsibility, and refined details of institutional norms.
We have improved the online environment. In recent years of the campaign, we have focused on cracking down on illegal information and content of porn, ugliness, weirdness, fakery, vulgarity, extravagance, and gambling through 16 major live-streaming and short video platforms. Since 2022, we have cleaned up more than 2.35 million illegal short videos and punished more than 220,000 illegal anchors and short video accounts, addressing such prominent problems as giving exceptional rewards, making norms and functions ineffective, and conducting malicious marketing. We have also strengthened the management of online users' accounts, regulated the information and content released by self-published media, and guided all website platforms to improve their algorithms. We have also stepped up efforts to address prominent problems, including information silos, algorithm discrimination, and big data discriminatory pricing against existing customers, to safeguard internet users' legitimate rights and interests, and promote the overall development of the online environment.
We have enhanced primary responsibility. Through these years of efforts, we have strengthened supervision by taking comprehensive measures to get website platforms to play an active role in shouldering their responsibility. Website platforms have further supported their primary responsibility, improved management rules, promoted information identification, optimized algorithm model parameters, and cracked down on some illegal and harmful information as well as illegal accounts. Particularly prominent are institutions like Multi-Channel Network (MCN), where the responsibility was unclear in the past, and its regulation is loose. Over these years of regulation, MCN institutions have paid more attention to their accounts' information and content security, increased efforts in content review, and subjected themselves to public supervision. In addition, public accounts and content anchors can release high-quality content and products, becoming a significant force in promoting positive energy.
We have refined the details of institutional norms. During the governance process, we have worked with relevant departments to elaborate operational and practical rules by fields, links, and scenes. We have issued several regulations, including the Opinions on Further Regulating the Profit Activities of Online Live Streaming for Sound Development, to make the efforts permanent and targeted.
Next, we will focus our work on "three entities" and "three aspects of regulation." Three entities refer to website platforms, information and content producers, and MCN institutions I just mentioned. Website platforms must review the information and content first and manage key products and links well. Information and content producers and MCN institutions must adhere to the correct guidance and comply with the regulation requirements. Those with prominent problems and without effective rectification will be given strict punishment and exposed in groups for warning. We will regulate the settings of functions. We will make an overall regulation of settings of key functions like lists, rewards, and livestreamer "battles" to curb problems and chaos. We will regulate the application of technology, urge the platforms to implement the management regulations on recommendations based on algorithms, and improve the mechanism for human intervention and choice of users to ensure content security through technical standardization. We will regulate chain management. We will strengthen the whole process and whole chain management of information and content to find the root cause of chaos, especially to cut off the chain of interests, to promote the sound development of the industry. In the future, while strengthening regulation, we will pay more attention to developing several brands for the practice of cyber civilization so that the wave of positive energy felt throughout cyberspace continues to build, and the underlying values hold greater appeal than ever before. Thank you.
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The Cover:
The 13th China Art Festival is just around the corner. Many works of art on stages or in exhibition halls have recently overwhelmed WeChat Moments. What are the new trends, changes, achievements, and developments in stage art and fine art in recent years? Thank you.
Lu Yingchuan:
Thank you for your question and your concern about the issue. As you have mentioned, the 13th China Art Festival will kick off at the same time in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei with the theme of Embracing the 20th CPC National Congress for a New Journey. The festival will showcase several excellent works and development achievements from stage art and fine art over the years. The preparatory work for the festival is underway, and I hope you can stay tuned for it.
Over the past decade, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, China has seen its literary and artistic creations flourish, reflecting the ethos of the times. We can find the following features:
First, a series of major cultural and artistic performance events have been held to celebrate the themes of our times. Since the 18th CPC national congress, we have held a series of major cultural and art performances celebrating the anniversary of several major historical events. Last year, under the deployment and guidance of General Secretary Xi Jinping, an art performance entitled "The Great Journey" was created in celebration of the CPC's 100th anniversary. The epic show reviewed the glorious journey the Party has traveled over 100 years of struggle and vividly demonstrated the historical achievements and evolution made in China since the 18th CPC National Congress. The classic performance marked the culmination of the artistic creations for the CPC's centennial celebration. We also staged a gala entitled "Victory and Peace," commemorating the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and a grand gala called "Our 40 Years" in celebration of the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up. We also staged an art performance entitled "Stride Forward, the Nation" to celebrate the 70th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China (PRC). They reflect the new era's themes and are the best artistic shows of the time.
Second, a great number of artistic works have been created depicting the features of the new era. We have launched a national stage art creation program, a stage art creation program celebrating the CPC centenary, and an exhibition and performance series themed on the new era. These programs revolve around the themes of poverty alleviation, rural revitalization and high-quality development, ecological development, and ethnic unity. By depicting the development and breakthroughs of the time, we have seen many artistic works depicting the new development of our times and introducing China by telling Chinese people's stories. For example, the dance drama "The Eternal Wave," the theater play "Liu Qing," and the opera "Ma Xiangyang Goes to the Countryside" are all classical plays favored by the masses. Moreover, some art pieces like the Chinese painting "The Chinese Dream," the oil painting "The Ladder to the Sky," and the statue "Banner" are all popular among the people.
Third, the creative transformation and innovative development of excellent traditional Chinese culture have achieved fruitful results, demonstrating China's cultural confidence. Literary and artistic workers continue to make innovations while actively passing on traditional Chinese and revolutionary cultures. In the fields of music, dance, and opera, we have seen many new classic works. For example, the Pingju Opera "Mother" vividly depicts a heroic character, while the dance drama "A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains" demonstrates the essence of Chinese art and culture. These excellent works not only provide cultural products to the people but also vividly display the cultural and artistic image of a major country.
Fourth, new technologies are widely used to promote the high-quality development of the art sector. Guided by the new development philosophy, we have actively promoted both online and offline performances and broadcasts, broken the time and spatial barriers of stage performances, and adopted digitalized methods like live streaming that are popular among young people. Stage performances enabled by new technologies have enriched the way of expression and distribution, injecting new momentum into the high-quality development of the creative sector.
At the same time, many prominent problems in the art field have also been effectively addressed, which helped promote the formation of a healthy and clean literary and artistic ecosystem.
The above is just a brief introduction. I believe you have also noticed many of these new developments in the sector. In the future, we will continue to uphold the principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important statements related to the literary and artistic sectors, summarize and scale up the best practices and experience in the past decade to advance further the high-quality development of the literary and creative industries, and create more popular work to meet people's cultural needs. Thank you.
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Tianmu News:
In the past 10 years, China has produced several patriotic and uplifting TV dramas and movies. TV dramas with realistic themes such as "Mining Town" and "A Lifelong Journey" have been top-rated among audiences. What role do these high-quality literary and artistic works play in leading people and pooling their strength to make breakthroughs? Are there any good works that we should expect soon? Thank you.
Meng Dong:
Thanks for your questions. In the past 10 years, we have made great strides to produce a growing number of high-quality audiovisual works on radio, TV, and the internet to enrich people's cultural activities. They have played a positive role in the following three aspects:
First, these literary and artistic works of patriotic and uplifting themes have met people's cultural needs. Centered on significant events of the Party and the country, we have produced many excellent audiovisual programs on the radio, TV, and the internet. Take TV dramas as an example, "Diplomatic Situation" was made to meet the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, "Mining Town" was created centered on the theme of poverty alleviation, and "The Age of Awakening" and "Medal of the Republic" are produced in celebration of the CPC's centennial. "The Age of Awakening" answers many young people's questions about why the CPC succeeded in China. It is so popular that some wonder if there is a second season for the show. Many young people have replied over the internet that our happy lives are the show's follow-up. Inspired by the TV drama "Mining Town," many people would like to be part of the town.
Second, works of realism have generated uplifting power. Products with realistic themes have always been the mainstream of audio-visual creation in radio, television and the internet. For example, in the field of television dramas, the percentage taken up by realistic works increased from 56% in 2012 to 74% in 2021. High-quality television dramas, represented by "The Ordinary World" and "Romance of Our Parents," have always been popular and continue to be rebroadcast. Excellent television series such as "Feather Fly" and "A Lifelong Journey" have drawn on real life. Over the last decade, realistic works have recorded the development of the times, written great epics of the people, and provided strong spiritual strength for millions of viewers.
Third, innovative expressions of the fine traditional culture have inspired cultural confidence among people nowadays. Radio, television, and online audio-visual literature and art have always creatively transformed and developed the fine traditional culture and brought it onto the screen. For example, "National Treasure" and "China in Ancient Books and Records" showed the profound Chinese culture. The TV program "The Traditional Chinese Festivals" has resurrected a series of classic scenes and images, such as "Shangyuan Lantern Festival" and "The Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River." The widespread popularity of these kinds of cultural television programs has generated cultural confidence of viewers, especially among teenagers.
As part of our efforts to welcome the upcoming 20th CPC National Congress, we have planned the creation of themed works. A set of television drama series represented by "The People by the Canal," cultural programs such as "The Future of China," and a series of online audio-visual projects such as "The Last Decade," have been released. A number of upcoming high-quality works such as the theory program "The Thoughts Shine Through the Land," television drama series including "Our Times," "Bright Future" and "The Big Examination," the cultural program "New Generation" and the documentary "The Ten-Year Dream Chasing Road" are also worth looking forward to.
Thank you.
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Lianhe Zaobao:
Hollywood movies occupy a large market share in China. However, over the last couple of years, some Hollywood films have achieved great popularity overseas, but have not been able to enter China. Some people believe that the Chinese government has tightened its censorship on foreign films. What is your response to that? Will tensions between the U.S. and China affect the entry of Hollywood movies into China? Thank you.
Sun Yeli:
Thank you for your questions. Watching movies is a common hobby for many of us, and the topic of movies is indeed a good one for discussion. I will answer your questions.
Over recent years, Chinese movies have made notable progress in terms of both quality and quantity as well as box office returns and public recognition. While meeting people's spiritual and cultural needs, movies have become a big market with huge potential and broad prospects. As far as I know, China has become the largest overseas market for American movies. Over the last decade, we have introduced many American movies, with the percentage taken up by those movies of the total number of imported movies reaching 41%, which is a really high number. These American movies have gained great box office returns in China as well. According to relevant statistics, 33 imported American movies have earned over 1 billion yuan in box office earnings in China, and five of them have earned over 2 billion yuan. Some American movies have even made bigger profits in China than in their home market. Therefore, it is understandable that people are concerned about this issue.
We have also noticed that the performance of American movies in the Chinese market has declined recently. I believe this could be due to many factors. For example, due to the impact of COVID-19, the production and distribution of films in various countries have been affected to varying degrees, slowing down the pace of exchanges of films around the world. This is a factor that cannot be ignored. Additionally, as China's socio-economic development has rapidly improved, Chinese audiences' cultural appreciation, quality of life and aesthetic standards have also risen. The public have put forward new and higher requirements for film works. As a socialist market economy, we have been open to all countries around the world. We introduce films from whichever countries produce films that are better and more suitable to the aesthetic tastes of Chinese audiences. Therefore, we also hope that American films will continue to improve their quality on the basis of respecting cultural customs and audience habits, so as to better meet the expectations of Chinese audiences for more diverse and higher-quality films.
I would like to stress that we have always been consistent in our principles, positions and attitudes toward exchanges on Chinese and foreign films. We have always been committed to cultural diversity, openness and inclusiveness, and actively introduce high-quality films that reflect the achievements of the world's civilizations. This is our clear and unwavering promise. Thank you.
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Kyodo News:
Section four of the Resolution of the CPC Central Committee on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century put forward promoting the integrated development of media, and working to strengthen the penetration and credibility of the media and its ability to guide and influence. The CPC Central Committee has made it clear that failure in the cyberspace domain will spell disaster for the Party's long-term governance. Could you please explain these words and point out specifically where the problems lie? Thank you.
Sun Yeli:
Thank you for your questions. These are really good questions demonstrating your great concern about innovations in CPC theory. Thank you for your interest. I will answer your questions.
"Failure in the cyberspace domain will spell disaster for the Party's long-term governance" is an important proposition put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping, as well as a new understanding obtained in the practice of promoting the healthy development of the internet since the 18th CPC National Congress. From what I understand, the importance of this question lies in the following aspects:
First of all, serving the people wholeheartedly is the mission of the CPC and exercising power in the interests of the people is one of the Party's most important concepts. Our governance relies on the people. Disengagement from the people will make us lose the foundations of the Party's governance, which determines that our work should be done wherever the people are, and our response should be made wherever the people's voices are. At current, internet usage rate has reached 73%, with over 1 billion netizens. Under such circumstances, we will become disengaged from the people if we do not study the internet, have a good knowledge of the internet, and have good use of the internet. Due to that, we have made great efforts over the years and have achieved great progress in these aspects. We have solicited public opinions extensively online regarding the formulation of the 14th Five-Year Plan the year before last and the upcoming 20th CPC National Congress this year and have got very good results.
Second, the fundamental task of the Party's governance is to release and develop the productive forces and advance modernization so as to keep realizing the people's aspiration for a better life. As things stand, with the rapid development of the internet and information technology, new technologies, new forms of business, and new industries keep emerging. The application of information technology and the internet have become important driving forces for the development of productivity. If we miss such opportunities, we will fall behind in the latest round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. Instead, if we seize the opportunities brought about by digitalization, the internet, and artificial intelligence and advance high-quality development and industrialization by making full use of information technology, modernization will be accelerated. We have seen that the emergence and development of new forms of business and new industries such as mobile payments, digital yuan, logistics, express delivery services, and internet consumption are facilitated by the internet. In this sense, the internet is both a challenge and an opportunity for us.
Third, for a party to achieve long-term governance, it must keep improving the governance capacity and modernizing the country's system and capacity for governance. Today we can see that internet is ubiquitous in a way that it is widely applied in people's daily lives as well as protecting the security of the country's important infrastructures. It can be said that the modernization of the system and capacity for governance would not be achieved without the modernization of internet governance. At the same time, the modernization of internet governance would effectively promote the modernization of the system and capacity for governance. A secure, stable, and prosperous cyberspace is of increasingly greater significance to the peace and development of a country and the world. Cyberspace is a place that connects us all. It is imperative for us to strengthen governance of cyberspace in accordance with the law and improve the provision of content on the internet out of a strong sense of responsibility to society and to our people so as to create a clean environment in cyberspace for netizens, especially teenagers.
These are some of my understandings of this question. Just for your reference. Thank you.
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Phoenix Satellite Television:
My question is about the online environment for minors. We noticed that on July 18, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission launched a campaign to clean up the online environment for minors during the summer holidays. And the campaign had been carried out for years. What are the salient problems online that endanger the growth of minors? What targeted measures have been taken to address these issues? And what has the effect been? Concerning the protection of minors online, what will be done next? Thank you.
Sheng Ronghua:
Thank you for your questions. The online protection of minors is a hot issue with increasingly greater attention from society and also a key and difficult issue regarding the regulation of cyberspace. At present, there are three salient problems in the online environment for minors.
The first is the problem of unhealthy and harmful information online, such as erotic, vulgar, violent content, and extravagant displays of wealth and worship of money, which are harmful to the healthy growth of minors both mentally and physically. There are also problems such as cyberbullying and cyber hunting, which seriously violate the legitimate rights and interests of minors.
The second one is the problem of online addiction. We have worked out ways to resolve this problem, and online platforms have also made great efforts. Some progress has been made in addressing the problem of online addiction, but there are still some shortcomings. For instance, the functional design of some online platforms is not reasonable enough and the protection mechanism still needs to be improved. Therefore, the problem of online addiction has been curbed to some extent, but has not been comprehensively and completely solved.
The third problem is inducing minors to commit crimes and committing crimes against minors. For example, some people use the internet to incite and lure minors to commit violence, fraud, and even suicide. Some people conduct illegal activities targeting minors, including sexual seduction and online molestation, which are all very serious in nature.
The Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission has attached great importance to the protection of minors online. To be specific, we have done the following work.
First, we have launched special campaigns to thoroughly clean up the online environment. In our campaign to purify the environment, every year we would carry out special actions to address the issues the people are strongly concerned about, one of which is the protection of the online environment for minors. This year, the campaign kicked off on July 18. The launch of the campaign intends to address the problems mentioned above when they crop up, strike them hard, and maintain high pressure, aiming at thoroughly cleaning up harmful information online concerning minors.
Second, we have prevented minors from online addiction by strengthening the application of teen modes. We have guided major online platforms to launch teen modes, with limitations on online hours and interactive functions for teens, effectively preventing online addiction.
Third, we have protected the legitimate rights and interests of minors through online reporting. We have organized key online commercial platforms to set up specific reporting channels for issues concerning minors, safeguarding the online rights and interests of minors.
Fourth, we have traced the origin of and combated crimes through cooperation with other departments. We have worked with public security organs to crack down on illegal and criminal activities, cut channels for the transmission as soon as possible, and traced and dealt with those users of the accounts who posted the information.
Next, we will strengthen two areas of work. One is to improve juvenile online protection, and the other is to enhance the efficiency of our protection work. I can summarize our future measures into two sentences in four aspects: "We have the law, and we have penalties. We can manage, and we can manage well."
"We have the law" means improving laws and regulations. We have been speeding up introducing the Regulations on the Protection of Minors Online, improving the supporting system of the Law on the Protection of Minors, and providing more robust legal safeguards for the online protection of minors.
"We have penalties" means ensuring offenders are punished. We will continue strengthening daily supervision and increasing online law enforcement and penalties. In particular, we need to pay close attention to websites and platforms frequently used by minors and their favorite product functions and platform sections. In special campaigns, those illegal website platforms and accounts should be exposed to the public and be punished strictly to form a strong deterrent. The penalties should be in accordance with the laws and regulations. The penalties should also have a purpose and be painful to make online law enforcement and supervision more effective.
"We can manage" means strengthening management, especially moving protection to the beginning of the whole cycle. Two aspects of work should be done well: One is to supervise the signs, and the other is to prevent risks from the source. To supervise the signs is to promptly discover the signs and tendencies of minor-related problems on the internet and manage and prevent threats and hidden dangers. To prevent risks from the source is to find out the chain of interests and profits in chaos on the internet and solve problems from the root. In fact, there has been a common and prominent problem in online disorder: the chain of interests and profits is very long. Cutting off the chain of interests and profits will enable us to address the symptoms and root problems and control the chaos on the internet.
"We can manage well" means improving protection measures, such as optimizing the effectiveness of the youth model and the recommendation algorithm. Through such efforts, harmful information can be prevented from being promoted to minors, so minors will be reassured online and parents can be more relieved. Thank you.
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Red Star News:
The audience could not get into the stadiums during this year's Winter Olympics to watch the games. Still, they could enjoy a new immersive audiovisual experience through the screen. We have also noticed that China's radio and television 5G service was launched on June 27. Could you introduce more details about what new experience the development of radio and television technology has brought to us in the past decade? Moreover, what further changes can we expect in the future? Thank you.
Meng Dong:
Thank you for your questions and interest in the development of radio and television technology. As you mentioned, just like everyone else during this year's Winter Olympics, I enjoyed the stunning scenery made possible by new audiovisual technologies.
We could use our 5G smartphones to switch angles and enjoy a 360-degree view of the games. Meanwhile, watching the Winter Olympics in 8K ultra-HD also became a reality. The micro-expressions of athletes, their rotating movies in slow motion and even the splashing snowflakes were visible on the screen, providing a different visual impact. During the Winter Olympics, the application of cloud computing helped us broadcast the Winter Olympics worldwide amid the pandemic. As a result, we enabled watching the Winter Olympics on cloud TV. Especially on the stage of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, the super-large LED screen presented a 16K ultra-HD video for the first time, and the technology enabled thousands of actors to merge into the video and created a passionate virtual scene full of imagination.
Behind the brand-new audiovisual experiences were the practice of technological innovation and the application of integrated development in radio and television during the past decade. We can summarize the development of radio and television technology as high-definition presentation, multi-dimensional communication, and smart services.
Over the past decade, radio and television have broadcasted in high-definition. Currently, 1,045 HDTV channels and 10 UHD TV channels are operating nationwide. More high-quality audiovisual content has been presented to the audience. Moreover, there is plenty of virtual reality (VR), interactive and immersive high-tech content, and new advanced audiovisual forms. These developments have enriched people's daily lives and significantly improved people's sense of gain and happiness in audiovisual areas.
Over the past decade, the transmission of radio and TV programs has become multifaceted. We have made great efforts to promote the coordinated development of wired, wireless, satellite, internet, 5G, and other technical means, thus realizing all-media, integrated and multi-channeled communication. People can not only listen to the radio or watch TV programs at home but also enjoy various audio-visual radio and TV programs in cars, trains, ships, and other mobile environments.
Over the past decade, radio and TV services have become intelligent. We have explored how radio and TV are used innovatively for government services and for civil and commercial uses. While watching TV, people can obtain comprehensive information services in a convenient way, including e-commerce, online education, medical and health care, social security, government services, and grassroots governance. This year, China Broadnet officially launched its 5G services, and it will bring more distinctive application scenarios and services in the future. It's fair to say that smart radio and television are integrated into people's digital life in all aspects.
In the future, television will be more than just "TV." We are vigorously promoting the research and innovative development of "future TV," which will bring us richer audio-visual enjoyment, a more convenient interactive experience, and more ubiquitous intelligent services.
That's all from me. Thank you.
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Chen Wenjun:
Due to time constraints, we are open to two more questions.
China Daily:
I want to ask a question about tourism. We have noticed that with the improvement of our living standards, tourism has become a necessity for many people. Despite being affected by the pandemic, many people still have great enthusiasm for travel in the past two years. So, can you share with us the overall development of China's tourism sector? What role has it played in promoting social-economic development? Thank you.
Lu Yingchuan:
First of all, thank you for your questions. In the past decade, along with the country's leapfrog development and the changes in people's living needs, the tourism industry has seen rapid development, with the scale continuously expanding and its quality improving. Tourism has become an important indicator of the improving living standards as well as a significant way of living in a well-off society. Its status as a pillar industry of strategic importance in our national economy has also been further consolidated. This can be seen in the following aspects:
First, its industrial scale continues to expand. Since 2012, revenue from domestic tourism has seen an average annual growth of about 10.6%. In 2019, the total revenue registered 6.63 trillion yuan, and the added value of tourism and relevant industries reached 4.5 trillion yuan, accounting for about 4.56% of the country's GDP. In the past two years or so, although tourism suffered significant fluctuations due to the severe impact of COVID-19, its position as a pillar industry in the national economic structure has not changed generally.
Second, from the perspective of product supply, tourism products have been further optimized and diversified in the past decade. For example, the number of national A-level tourist attractions jumped from 6,042 in 2012 to 14,332 in 2021, increasing 1.37 times. At the same time, we have also launched 671 national and provincial-level tourist resorts, 1,299 key villages and towns for rural travel, and 300 classic historical sites with a modern revolutionary legacy across the country, basically shaping a tourism product supply system with extensive coverage, rich business forms, and multiple choices. Moreover, in addition to traditional sightseeing tours, there are many emerging forms in the tourism sector. These include industrial tourism, health tourism featuring traditional Chinese medicine, sports tourism, leisure vacation tourism, ice and snow tourism, and camping tourism, offering people more diversified choices.
Third, we have shaped tourism through culture and highlighted culture through tourism. Cultural tourism has been continuously enriched and its cultural quality has continued to improve. We promote China's fine traditional culture, inherit revolutionary culture, develop advanced socialist culture, and promote the core socialist values. The number of historical and cultural scenic spots has nearly doubled from 2,064 in 2012 to 4,111 last year. Red tourism has been further developed, which has become a vivid classroom to carry forward revolutionary traditions.
Fourth, we developed people-oriented tourism and made tourism a driving force. The rapid development of tourism has played an important role in promoting poverty alleviation and rural vitalization. To promote rural tourism, we have built quality products, improved service, and developed key areas, quality tourism routes, and cluster areas for rural tourism. As we all know, tourism has transformed many poor villages into beautiful and happy villages. The number of tourists has grown at an average annual rate of about 20% since 2012.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, the tourism industry has suffered a huge impact and encountered many difficulties. We resolutely implemented arrangements of the central government, coordinated development and safety, and rolled out a series of relief policies and assistance and support measures. Next, we will continue to implement these measures, develop people-oriented tourism, make tourism a driving force, and promote the recovery of the tourism industry and its high-quality development to make greater contributions to satisfying the people's needs for a better life and economic and social development. Thank you.
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Xinhua News Agency:
In 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping highlighted at a forum on philosophy and social sciences the necessity of constructing a system for philosophy and social sciences with Chinese features, and advancing the development of the discipline system, academic system, and discourse system with Chinese characteristics. What have we done in constructing the three major systems, and what progress has been made in this regard? Thank you.
Sun Yeli:
Thank you for your questions. The construction of the three systems is an important focus in promoting the development of philosophy and social sciences. I will answer your questions.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping and the CPC Central Committee have attached great importance to the development of philosophy and social sciences. The CPC Central Committee established a leading group for philosophy and social sciences development and issued the Guideline to Advance Constructing a System for Philosophy and Social Sciences with Chinese Features and the Plan for the Development of Philosophy and Social Sciences during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period. We have duly implemented decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and made major progress in building the three systems, with the cause of philosophy and social sciences enjoying positive, healthy, and prosperous development.
In terms of building the discipline system, the construction of the first-level discipline of Marxist theories has been continuously strengthened, and the guiding role of Marxism in the field of philosophy and social sciences has been enhanced. Catalogs of disciplines and majors have been continuously optimized, forming a discipline system covering eight major disciplines and 28 first-level disciplines. After years of efforts, advantages of basic and key academic disciplines have become more distinct, breakthroughs have been made in innovative platforms such as liberal arts laboratories, fresh innovations have been made in the interdisciplinary field, and support for those rare and unpopular subjects has been strengthened.
In terms of building the academic system, the interpretation, academic expression, and systematic construction of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era have continued to advance. Major platform programs, including innovative projects for philosophy and social sciences, cultural programs to keep Chinese culture thriving, and projects supported by the National Social Science Fund of China, have been further carried out. The innovative academic capability has been enhanced. The national social science fund increased from 1.2 billion yuan in 2012 to 2.8 billion yuan this year, contributing to a large number of valuable and influential research achievements. The new think tank system with Chinese characteristics has improved, with 29 national high-end think tanks and 16 candidates established, which play an important role of the think bank for decision-making of the Party and governments.
In terms of building the discourse system, we have continued to promote the theorization of political discourse, popularization of academic discourse, and internationalization of Chinese discourse, and extracted many conceptions with Chinese characteristics and world influence. International academic exchange and cooperation have been strengthened. Chinese academic research expanded its overseas presence, with a batch of international discourse innovative research bases and overseas Chinese academic research centers established. A batch of leading talents good at telling China's stories were trained, and the international influence of Chinese theories and academic research has increased significantly.
That's all I have to say about your questions. Thank you.
Chen Wenjun:
Thank you to the speakers and friends from the media. That's all for today's press conference. Goodbye!
Translated and edited by Yan Bin, Huang Shan, Liu Sitong, Wang Yanfang, Xu Kailin, Zhou Jing, Yan Xiaoqing, Zhang Rui, Zhang Tingting, Wang Wei, Yang Xi, Li Huiru, Liu Qiang, Ma Yujia, Duan Yaying, Guo Yiming, Wang Qian, Liu Jianing, Qin Qi, David Ball, Tom Arnsten, and Jay Birbeck. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.
