State Council issues guideline on fiscal duties in public culture

The State Council released a reform guideline on June 23, defining the respective fiscal powers and expenditure responsibilities of central and local governments in the field of public culture.

According to the guideline, community-level public cultural facilities, including museums, memorials, public libraries, art galleries, cultural centers in local cultural relics system and national patriotic education demonstration bases, should be open for free or at low cost, and the expenditures will be the shared responsibility of central and local governments. The central government will cover 10 to 80 percent of the expenditures according to different regions.

Other basic public cultural services concerning recreational and sports activities, such as reading, watching television and movies, also will be the shared responsibility of central and local governments.

In terms of supporting culture and art creation, protection and inheritance of cultural heritage, as well as cultural exchanges, reform and development of public cultural institutions and management of public culture, the expenditures will rest on the fiscal authority of the central government or local government, depending on the administrative subordination or who organizes the event.

The guideline also urged implementing comprehensive performance-based budget management to improve the allocation and utilization efficiency of financial resources, as well as to enhance the quality of public services in this field.

The central government also will increase transfer payments to regions with financial difficulties, according to the document.