OREANDA-NEWS. March 13, 2012. The Anhui provincial government signed an agreement with the Ministry of Culture (MOC) on March 4 in Beijing to establish Anhui as a cultural province.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Governor Li Bin said the MOC offered generous support to the cultural sector of Anhui, especially in areas such as the development of public cultural service systems, implementation plans for the Huizhou Culturally Ecological Reserve and improvements of the Chinese Peasants' Concert.

According to the agreement, a team will be co-founded by the Anhui provincial government and the Ministry of Culture to promote public cultural service systems, speed up cultural industries, boost preservation and the utilization of cultural heritage and encourage artistic creations.

Li said the last few years had experienced a growing cultural influence of the province, as the government guided by central government policies and plans, has accelerated cultural reforms, implemented projects that benefit people and push for the development of cultural industries.

The local cultural sector's industrial value-added output could account for 5 percent of the provincial gross domestic product by 2015.

The province is expected to take the lead in the middle and western regions of the country in terms of cultural power and also could jump to the top spot nationwide in some cultural fields, according to the agreement.

At the signing ceremony, Cai Wu, head of the Ministry of Culture, pledged that the MOC would provide more support and services to the provincial cultural sector.