A total of 1,452 museums and memorial halls, or 77 percent of the all these public institutions, are now free to visitors across China, Shan Jixiang, director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage said Saturday.

"Free museums invite more visitors and arouse the concern and support to museum construction from the entire society," he said at a discussion in Zhengzhou, capital of China's relic-rich Henan Province.

Currently, big museums could draw an average of 3,000 visits a day while small ones receive about 200 people. The proportion of teenagers, migrant workers, elderly people and low-income residents increased greatly after the free-entry policy was adopted by museums, according to Shan.

China issued a circular on January 23, 2008, requiring all public museums and memorial halls to offer free admission by the end of 2009, except some designated cultural relics and historical sites.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2009)