The following is a partial translation prepared by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China of the "Certain Decisions Regarding Non-Public Investment in Cultural Industries" issued by the State Council on August 8, 2005. The Chinese text was retrieved from the Xinhua News Agency Web site on March 7, 2006.
1. Non-public investment is encouraged and supported in the following areas: artistic performance groups, performance facilities, museums and exhibition halls, Internet access service business establishments, artistic education and training, cultural arts intermediaries, tourism cultural services, cultural entertainment, artistic works management, animation and Internet games, advertising, the production and distribution of films and television shows, the development and utilization of radio, film and television technology, cinemas and cinema lines, rural film exhibition, newspaper and magazine retail, audio-visual material retail, the printing of packaging and display materials, etc.
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4. It is permitted for non-public capital to be invested in publication printing, the production of recordable optical discs, the copying of read-only optical discs, and other cultural enterprises and areas.
5. Non-public capital may be invested in shares of state-owned cultural enterprises in the following areas: publication printing and distribution, news publishing work unit advertising and distribution, the production of music, technology, athletics, and entertainment programs for radio stations and television stations, and the production, distribution, and exhibition of films. State capital must control at least 51% of the shares of the aforementioned cultural enterprises .
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8. Any entry of non-public investment into cultural industries shall be administered in accordance with relevant regulations currently in force, and those projects falling within the stipulations of Articles 5, 6, or 7 must receive authorization from the relevant responsible executive agency. . . .
9. Non-public investment may not used to establish or operate such things as wire services, newspaper or magazine publishing houses, book publishing houses, radio channels (stations), television channels (stations), radio or television transmission channels (stations), rebroadcast channels (stations), radio or television satellite, satellite uplink stations or receiver stations, microwave stations, monitoring channels (stations), or cable television transmission backbone networks. It may not use information networks to launch such things as audio-visual programming services and news Web sites. It may not be used to operate the layout of newspaper or magazine, radio or television frequencies or channels. It may not engage in the business of importing newspapers or magazines, movies and television shows, and audio-visual products. It may not be invested in state-owned historical and cultural museums.
10. ...Foreign investment entering the cultural industries according to relevant laws and regulations is permitted.
