A functioning ministry under the State Council and is in charge of cultural and artistic undertakings throughout the country.

Its main responsibilities include:

1,research and stipulate principles, policies and regulations for cultural work;

2, make development strategy and plan of cultural undertakings; instruct the cultural system reform;

3, administrate literature and artistic undertakings, instruct artistic creation and production, support representative, pilot or experimental work, and accelerate artistic development of various kinds; administrate nationwide cultural activities;

4,stipulate plan and policy for cultural industries and guide and coordinate their development; plan and instruct key projects of cultural facilities;

5, administrate cultural market and make development plan; research the development tendency of cultural   responsible for inspection of the market;

6, administrate social cultural under takings, make plans and organize to carry the out, and guide the construction and development of various social cultural undertakings;

7, administrate libraries by instructing the building, development and use of book and document resources and accelerating the standardization and modernization of libraries;

8, administrate cultural work for overseas, make policies and regulations on cultural exchanges with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Macao and Taiwan, sign cultural cooperation agreements and annual plans with foreign countries on behalf of the state, and instruct the work of cultural department under Chinese embassies and in the HKSAR and Macao;

9, administrate the State Relics Protection Bureau according to regulations of the State Council;

10,and do other work handed over by the State Council.