BEIJING, Jan. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- The cultural industries have become a fresh driving force of China's economic growth, a senior Chinese culture official said in Beijing on Saturday.

    The gross output value of Chinese cultural industries - including the press, movie, broadcast, journalism, advertising, tourism, show business, Internet communication and relevant services - hit 1.2 trillion yuan (about 150 billion US dollars) in 2004, according to Liu Binjie, vice minister of the General Administration of Press and Publication.

    "The cultural industries have become a fresh driving force of economic growth, while their gross output value will reach 4 trillion yuan in five years according to experts' forecast," he said at the "Third Annual New Year's Forum On Chinese Cultural Industries" on Saturday.

    Governmental investors, corporate investors, private investors and foreign investors are vying for a footing in the Chinese cultural industries, Liu said.

    Despite their surging development, however, the Chinese cultural industries still have a gap from their counterparts of developed countries.

    The gross output value of cultural industries accounted for 21 percent of the gross domestic product in the United States in 2004, with the figure was 18.5 percent in Japan, Liu said.

    "In China, a world cultural power, the share is lower than it should be," he said.

    The abundant, unique and valuable Chinese cultural resources passed down in the thousands of years should be exploited with protection, and thus be enjoyed by the people around the world, said Zhang Guoyou, vice president of Peking University, the organizer of the forum. The forum was attended by more than a hundred experts and entrepreneurs.. Enditem