CULTURE-RELATED industries saw strong growth in China last year, figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday show.
In a report released at a forum during the Third China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Fair, the NBS said the added value from the culture-related industries reached 512.3 billion yuan (US$66.53 billion) in 2006, up 17.1 percent from the year 2005.
The growth rate of culture-related industries was 6.4 percent higher than that of GDP in 2006, according to the report.
The NBS estimated China?s market for culture-related products reached 570 billion yuan in 2006, up 18 percent from a year before. ?The culture-related industries have a broad prospect,? said the report, while acknowledging that their contribution to the national economy was much lower than in developed countries.
In 2006, culture-related industries contributed 2.45 percent of the GDP. The contribution will continue to grow in the next 14 years, according to the report.