Li made the statement while visiting leading national artistic groups here, including the China Beijing Opera Theater, the China Song and Dance Ensemble, the Central Ballet Troupe and the China Symphony Orchestra.

He called on the groups to build a healthy internal management system in a bid to encourage the creativity of the artists.

The artistic groups, which bear the responsibility of pushing forward the country's cultural development, should make more efforts to improve their performance and expand their audience, he added.

Li also encouraged artists to produce more good works to meet the increasing demand of the public.

The domestic artistic groups should improve the exchanges and cooperation with foreign counterparts to introduce outstanding foreign works into China as well as Chinese artistic works abroad, he added.

(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2003)