Liu Yunshan, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC), on Sunday called for more cultural investment in rural areas so that farmers can share the country's cultural progress.

Liu, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, said cultural development in rural areas lagged behind the huge progress made in the country on the whole.

He urged cultural workers to provide more comprehensible and affordable cultural products to the farmers, and organize more cultural activities that the farmers were willing and able to take part in.

Meanwhile, construction of public cultural facilities must also be stepped up in the countryside, he said.

Radio and TV programs should reach every village and cultural centers where people could have entertainment, information and sports should be built in communities and townships, he said.

Farmers should have more and easier access to films, and they should also have their own libraries, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2008)