Shenzhen will strive to become a major cultural center of China by the year 2010 with the cultural industry as one of its four pillar industries, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported yesterday.

An expert panel gave the thumbs up to Shenzhen's 11th five-year program for the development of its cultural industry Saturday, meaning the program will soon get approval from the municipal government. The experts included officials from the Central Government and the provincial government and professors from prestigious universities, the Daily report said.

Substantial measures, such as pushing forward with the reform of cultural system, improving the legal system and using the China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Fair (ICIF) as a platform to promote the cultural industry, will be taken to achieve the goal set in the city's blueprint for its cultural development over the next five years, according to the Daily report.

The draft program, once revised on the basis of suggestions of the experts, will be submitted to the municipal committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the municipal government for approval and will be implemented along with the 11th five-year program for the city's social and economic development.

Under the draft program, by the year 2010, the cultural industry in Shenzhen will grow at a pace 2 percent higher than the per capital annual GDP growth. The number of people engaged in the cultural industry will account for 8 percent of the city's total work force and the ratio of the manufacturing sector to service sector in the cultural industry will be readjusted to be 40:60. The Shenzhen Municipal Government hopes that the city will become a leading cultural city in China with the implementation of the program, yesterday's Daily Sunshine reported.

During the 2006-2010 period, Shenzhen will try to establish itself as a national base for designing and producing animation and cartoons, nurture cultural enterprises and groups with a competitive edge and launch some key projects aimed at promoting the cultural industry.

Editor: Yan