"China's performing arts market will further open to foreign investment, with a newly revised regulation to be launched this September," Wang Yongqing, deputy director with the Office of Legislative Affairs under the State Council, told Xinhua Wednesday.

The revised regulation makes remarkable changes to the Regulations Governing Commercial Art Performances issues published eight years ago, Wang said, adding the regulation allows foreign investment to establish brokerage agencies and take part in their management as well as that of companies and theaters.

"Foreign investors can build Sino-foreign cooperative enterprises and Sino-foreign joint ventures on brokerage or theaters with Chinese partners, but foreign investment is still banned from establishing performing troupes," says the newly revised regulation.

The regulation also stipulates that Chinese partner's investment ratio should not be lower than 51 percent in the joint ventures and that in all of the companies Chinese should take the leading role.

"China's performance arts industry is now stepping into the international market wet behind the ears, therefore we are opening it to foreign investment only to a certain extent," said Meng Xiaosi, vice-minister of culture.

The new regulations give self-employed actors the right to host commercial performances independently, and allows theater owners to stage commercial performance independently.

"The new regulation will enhance the benign development of the performing arts industry, controlling the normal high ticket prices caused by the monopoly before," Meng said.

"China's performing arts industry has seen a boom over the past few years, as it has changed from wholly closed up to the now opening up," Meng added.

In the former regulation on commercial theatrical performances, issued in 1997, foreign funds were just allowed to reconstruct or establish new commercial performing places and foreign investors could not participate in their operation and management. 

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2005)