Six museums and 12 parks in Beijing started offering free access to visitors on Saturday.

These museums, although not as famous as the National Museum of China, exhibit some important pieces of our heritage.

Giving free access offers Beijingers the opportunity to both have a pleasant day out and a better chance to learn more about their city.

This free admission initiative is an important effort to attract larger numbers of Beijingers to the city's museums. Such free access offers the city's residents a chance to be both entertained and educated.

To make free entry possible, the Beijing authorities are committed to subsidizing the six museums and 12 parks. Many museums cannot function well due to a lack of government funding.

Clearly it is impossible to let accessibility to museums be determined by a system in which full market rates are necessary to cover all their costs.

To move away from such an arrangement requires public funding. Public finance for museums will ensure that future generations can also enjoy these great treasures.

There are publicly funded national museums and galleries throughout the world. There is no reason why this should not be the case in China too.

With greater financial support, the quality of our museums can be improved and they can play a greater education role.

Museums have an important role to play in raising the cultural level of society.

We look to the bigger museums to provide leadership within the heritage sector and to strive for excellence in this respect.

When small museums open for free, the bigger ones can also work out their own initiatives, such as free admission on a given day in every week or month.

The city's museums play a range of different artistic and scientific roles. In the 21st century it would appear more sensible to recognize that science has moved on to a more holistic footing.

Museums, as a repository of heritage and culture, need to address the key areas of science, arts and industry more appropriate to a modern society.

(China Daily July 3, 2006)