The overall development of economically booming Guangdong Province in South China needs to concentrate more on culture, experts suggest.

"The development of the cultural industry doesn't match the economic growth in the province,'' said Xie Mingjia, a researcher with Guangdong Provincial Academy of Social Sciences.

The output of Guangdong's cultural industry -- which includes printing, audio-visual and film products -- accounted for 65 billion yuan (US$7.8 billion), or only about 5 per cent of the province's gross domestic product (GDP) last year. In the United States, the value yielded by the cultural sector accounts for 18 to 25 per cent of the nation's GDP.

"The province has realized a big gap between the development of its cultural industry and the overall economy,'' Xie said.

Since the late 1980s, Guangdong has ranked as one of the country's most economically vibrant provinces.

The province has an unbalanced distribution of cultural organizations and enterprises between the Pearl River Delta region and the mountainous east and west areas, with more than two-thirds locating in the relatively rich delta region.

According to Chen Ang, deputy director with the cultural market division of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Administration, production volume of audio and video discs in Guangdong accounts for more than half the nation's total.

However, the overall structure of disc production is weak. Most producers are small private enterprises, and it is difficult to integrate them into larger competitive enterprises.

Another problem is the underdeveloped cultural market.

Li Dahua, a researcher with Guangzhou Municipal Academy of Social Sciences, said nurturing the consumer market is essential to developing the industry.

"It's time to speed up efforts for cultural construction and industrialization,'' urged Xie.

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