Lawmakers review reports on SOE, cultural system reforms

Chinese legislators on Wednesday reviewed a series of reports on the reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the cultural system and social aid. Minister of Culture Cai Wu said progress has been made in converting government-funded cultural institutions into private enterprises, building a public cultural service system and securing a more prosperous output for cultural products. Cai made the comments while delivering a report on cultural system reform at a bi-monthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature. Cultural sector restructuring has been ongoing since 2006 for the purpose of boosting the sector and turning its government-funded cultural institutions into enterprises. Cai said the progress made thus far still lags behind the country's general demand, adding that new issues regarding cultural development must be solved in a timely manner. While urging accelerated cultural legislation and policy support, Cai called for continued public-to-private reforms in order to realize the cultural industry's role as a pillar industry for the national economy. Also at Wednesday's meeting, which was presided over by top legislator Wu Bangguo, a senior economic official said the country will stick to reforming its state-owned enterprises and helping them engage the market. Wang Yong, director of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, told lawmakers that a series of major decisions made by the central government regarding the reform of SOEs have proved to be "absolutely correct," as the reformed enterprises have gained more development momentum and the distribution and structure of the state-owned economy has been optimized. Wang urged more measures to encourage SOEs to fulfil their social responsibilities and strengthen Party construction inside the enterprises in order to transform political advantages into core competitive power. Civil Affairs Minister Li Liguo presented a government social assistance report, praising achievements made in poverty support in urban and rural areas, care for orphans and adults without social and medical insurance and improved natural disaster aid. Calling for greater fiscal support for social assistance, Li urged improvements for procedures used to identify potential social assistance recipients, as well as coordination among multiple policy systems.