The circular urged the cultural institutions to study a document, jointly issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, on deepening structural reform in the cultural sector in a bid to boost China's cultural development.

The document requires art troupes, publishing houses, newspapers and magazines on culture, art, life and popular science,bookstores, movie studios, theaters, TV play producers, cultural intermediary organizations to gradually turn into market-oriented businesses.

China's cultural sector has failed to keep pace with the rapid urbanization and economic expansion. The reform is designed to boost socialist cultural prosperity and meet the expanding cultural needs of people in different social sectors.

The reform should give priority to the principal of integrating social effect with economic efficiency and give full consideration to market factor, the circular said.

The reform should be pushed forward step by step according to conditions in different regions, said the circular.

Experiments on the market-oriented reform was initiated in nine cities and provinces such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong in 2003. The reform has achieved initial success in these regions.

The circular called on these pilot regions to sum up their experiences and spread their experiences to other regions. Enditem