BEIJING - State-funded cultural institutions should be turned in to modern corporations, the publicity chief of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has urged.

Liu Qibao, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, made the comment at a symposium on cultural restructuring held on Friday.

The country's cultural restructuring has been ongoing since 2006, with the aim of turning state-funded cultural institutions into profitable companies.

Liu called for efforts to nurture key cultural enterprises, and to establish and improve a modern cultural market system.

Furthermore, he also stressed providing Chinese people with equal access to public cultural services.

The Ministry of Culture (MOC) on Thursday issued a directive supporting the reform and development of art and entertainment groups formerly funded by the state.

According to the MOC, all 2,103 state-funded art and entertainment groups are now companies.

However, most of these groups are still struggling to adapt to modern management styles and have weak capabilities in making profits, according to the directive.

Minister of Culture Cai Wu urged cultural authorities to complete their shift from running art and entertainment groups to simply managing them.