CHINESE museums have made a leap in their development over the past few years, but further reform is required in order to give them a more prominent role in the nation’s overall development, according to a document published Monday.

After three years of preparatory work, nine ministry-level administrations jointly released the document, which offers guidelines on promoting reform and development of the sector.

According to the guidelines, by 2035, the nation will have “a fully fledged museum system with Chinese characteristics that has well-developed social functions.”

The document aims to strengthen coordination of museum development among different levels of institutions, regions, and types to give China’s museum sector greater diversity.

“Our museums still face the problem of unbalanced development, and the system needs to be optimized,” Guan Qiang, deputy director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, said at a news conference held Tuesday by the State Council Information Office.

“As the operation of national and provincial-level museums is basically in good shape, our next focus will be on city and county-level venues,” he said, adding that more support will be given to museums in rural areas, local communities and frontier areas.

Statistics released by the administration May 18 showed that 5,788 museums — including 5,214 with free access — had been registered in China by the end of 2020, an increase of about 23 percent compared with 2015.

As a result, China has the fourth-largest number of museums in the world after the United States, Germany and Japan.

(China Daily)