China's public cultural services become more accessible over decade

BEIJING -- Over the past decade, China has promoted the standardization of and equal access to public cultural services, with an improved variety of cultural products and services benefiting the people, a senior official said on Thursday.

With the launch of a package of public-interest cultural initiatives, such as bringing cinemas to rural communities and setting up rural libraries, the country's public cultural services system has been further improved, Sun Yeli, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, told a press conference.

By the end of 2021, China had 2,542 radio and television stations, 3,215 public libraries, 3,316 cultural centers, 6,183 museums, over 40,000 township-level cultural stations, and 570,000 village-level cultural services centers, the official said.

All public libraries, cultural centers, art galleries and cultural stations, as well as most museums, have been opened free of charge.

In 2021, public libraries across the country recorded 103 million readers, Sun said, and museums nationwide held 36,000 exhibitions, receiving nearly 800 million visits.

Over the past 10 years, the country has also rolled out a series of laws and regulations, including the law on guaranteeing public cultural services, effectively guaranteeing the access to and the enhancement of public cultural services, he said.