TAIYUAN - Senior Chinese leader Li Changchun on Saturday called for further reforms of the country's cultural sector to welcome the upcoming 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks in an instruction to a national meeting on cultural system reforms held in Taiyuan, capital of northern Shanxi Province.

Attended by officials in publicity and culture-related departments from both central and provincial authorities, the meeting commended 165 regions for their achievements in cultural system reforms.

Li said that significant achievements have been made in cultural system reforms since the CPC 16th National Congress in 2002, with improved and widely-covered public cultural services in both rural and urban areas, a cultural industry featuring the public ownership as the mainstay and common development of diversified ownerships, and enhanced international influence of the Chinese culture.

Li urged cultural departments to boost cultural reforms by implementing the outline for cultural reforms during the 12th Five-Year Program (2011-2015), and the spirit of the sixth plenary session of the 17th Central Committee of the CPC in October 2011.

Li called for further developing the cultural sector, focusing on the rural area and the grassroots and carrying out important cultural projects that will benefit the people, as well as further improving public services system.

He also urged efforts to support some backbone cultural enterprises and exploit overseas cultural market, in a bid to make the industry as one of the mainstay industries.

Li called for reforming based on established roadmap and timetable to welcome the CPC 18th National Congress to be held in second half of this year with outstanding achievements.

Li's remarks came days after China published a detailed outline of cultural reforms during the period of the 12th Five-Year Program, which is a continuation of the country's reiteration of cultural development, following the sixth plenary session of the 17th Central Committee of the CPC in October 2011.

During the session, leaders of the Party approved a decision on deepening reform of the cultural system and promoting the development of the cultural industry to boost the country's soft power.