Chinese people spent more money on culture in 2006; however, compared to people in other countries with the same level of development, cultural consumption remains low. It is estimated that only one fourth the demand for culture among the country's 1.3 billion people is being satisfied.

This is according to the 2007 Blue Book of China's Culture, which reports on developments in China's cultural industry, released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on Tuesday.

The Blue Book says Chinese citizens spent a total of 937 billion yuan (US$117 billion) on culture in 2006. The figure includes money spent on education, entertainment and cultural activities, with education accounting for around half of all spending. The analysis is based on data compiled by the National Statistic Bureau.

Despite the impressive number, however, the Blue Book says spending on culture is much lower than it should be.

The international community uses a country's GDP and the Engel index to determine the amount it should be consuming on culture. The 2003 Blue Book predicted that China's cultural consumption would reach 2.01 trillion yuan when the country's per capita GDP reached US$1,600. But, China's per capita GDP has already exceeded US$1,700 -- it did so in 2005 -- and cultural consumption was then only around 415 billion yuan. As it follows, it seems only one fourth of people's total cultural demands are being satisfied.

The Blue Book attributed the low level of cultural consumption to several factors.

First, China's low- and middle-income families, accounting for 1.15 billion of the country's population and the main consumers of culture, are facing more pressure in life, therefore limiting their ability to spend money on cultural activities.

Second, the majority of people do not realize the value of cultural activities and how they may affect their quality of life, and so don't spend money on them.

And finally, China's cultural market is still underdeveloped and not yet an effective supplier of cultural activities enough to feed the country's culture-hungry citizens.

The Blue Book suggests the government establish a mechanism to provide easy-access cultural products to the country's low- and middle-income families.

It also calls for companies working in cultural industries to merge and restructure themselves to enhance their competitiveness in the face of foreign cultures and the impact they are having on China's cultural environment.

(CRIEnglish.com February 28, 2007)