Senior CPC official visits national theater

Li Changchun (R2), member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, inspects the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China, on Dec. 25, 2008.(Chinese media Photo)
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BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Chinese media) -- Li Changchun, member of

the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee

Political Bureau, paid a visit to the one-year-old National Center for the

Performing Arts in central Beijing Thursday.

Li called for the national theater to be turned into

a stage that faces the people, the market and the world -- promoting the

development and prosperity of socialist culture.

During his stay, Li was given a tour of the theater

and watched an exhibition on its first anniversary.

More high-level domestic and overseas troupes should

be invited to perform in the theater, he said, urging it to play an active role

in promoting Sino-foreign cultural exchanges and helping the Chinese culture to

go abroad.

Liu Qi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC

Central Committee and Party chief of Beijing, accompanied Li during the visit.

According to theater sources, since its official

opening in last December, the grand theater has staged 991 performances,

including 661 commercial ones and 330 charitable ones. It has also held 831 art

lectures.

Forty-five foreign countries and regions have

performed in the theater. It has received a total audience of 950,000.