Guangdong Province will support cities, including Shenzhen, in becoming a city of museums, according to a plan on museum reform and development recently released by eight provincial government departments.
Data provided by the Shenzhen Municipal Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau showed that Shenzhen now has 59 museums. The number ranked second in Guangdong, following that of Guangzhou.
Based on the city’s population last year, there are 3.34 museums per 1 million people, higher than Guangdong’s average level.
Among Shenzhen’s 59 museums, 41 of them are non-State owned, ranking first in Guangdong. The city has one first-class national museum, one second-class national museum and eight third-class national museums.
Additionally, Shenzhen has 5,444 pieces of precious cultural relics, ranking third in the province last year.
As per the city’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for cultural and tourism development, Shenzhen aims to have 100 museums by 2025.
The provincial plan said that the number of museums in Guangdong will reach a total of 400 by 2025. Guangdong will become a strong cultural province of global influence by 2035.
Guangdong Province will also strive to build one world-class museum with Chinese characteristics, help a batch of excellent museums be included in the national excellent museum development plan and support the development of different types of museums with different themes.
Other cities that have won the provincial support to build a city of museums include Guangzhou, Foshan, Meizhou, Dongguan and Chaozhou, according to the plan.