Several central government departments jointly held a workshop in Beijing Wednesday to mark the 60th anniversary of Mao Zedong's lecture on the well known Symposium of Literary and Art Circles in Yan'an, Shaanxi Province.
Ding Guangen, a member of both the Political Bureau and Secretariat of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, addressed the meeting, calling for people to follow the essence of Mao's speech in order to develop an advanced socialist culture.
He urged Chinese literary and art circles to produce more and better works for the people.
Ding said Mao's lecture set the basic guidelines for the Party's work in the literary and art front, and it is an important part of Mao Zedong Thought.
Over the past 60 years, the essence of Mao's lecture has always kept up with the trends of the time and has been constantly enriched and developed.
(Xinhua News Agency May 22, 2002)