Performing arts market contracts in frugal China

China's performing arts market suffered a downturn in 2013 under central authorities' calls for frugal festivities. The value of the market declined by 9 percent last year to 46.3 billion yuan (about 7.5 billion U.S. dollars), including a slightly contracted tickets revenue of 13.1 billion yuan, according to the annual report released by the China Association of Performing Arts on Thursday. The shrinkage was attributed to nationwide implementation of the central leadership's anti-extravagance campaign, which at the same time has burst a pricing bubble in the market, according to the report. Under the austerity war waged since late 2012, China has banned costly festival celebrations and TV galas as well as fighting food waste and official corruption. Even during the most important Spring Festival in February, three of the four widely watched galas sponsored by ministries and state media were cut. The austerity has impacted the earnings and the number of performances of artistic troupes and enterprises, theatrical design companies in particular. The report said that the number of employees in performance brokerage agencies dropped by 15 percent last year, though more such agencies were launched. China has a total of 12,375 artistic troupes, among which 10,953 are privately owned, statistics from the report show. It also shows that there are 2,132 theaters nationwide, however, 40 percent of them are unused or used for amateur performances.