Reform keeps cultural venue prices down

Admission to grassroots cultural venues, including museums, memorials, public libraries, art galleries and cultural centers, will be free of charge or kept lowcost because their funding is the shared responsibility of central and local governments under a reform program launched by the General Office of the State Council at the start of this year.

The office released details of the program on June 23, saying it defined the respective fiscal powers and expenditure responsibilities of central and local governments in the field of public culture.

The percentage of expenditure to be covered by the central government varies from 80 percent to 10 percent, it said.

Other aspects of basic public cultural services, such as the number of television channels available, are also stipulated as the shared fiscal responsibility of central and local governments.

According to the reform program, spending on cultural activities, exhibitions and performances that are organized or supported by government for public welfare will rest on the fiscal authority of the central government or local governments, depending on administrative arrangements or who organizes them.

It also urged the implementation of comprehensive performance-based budget management to improve the allocation and efficient utilization of financial resources, and to enhance the quality of public cultural services.