China is trying to increase the contribution of culture sector to the national economy while its leadership prioritized cultural development at a key session this month.

The output of culture industry is aimed to account for 5 percent of China's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016, said Minister of Culture Cai Wu, adding that the culture industry should be "a pillar of the national economy."

The percentage in 2010 was 2.78 percent, he said.

Last week, the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) approved a guideline on boosting reform of the cultural sector and cultural development at its sixth plenary session.

The guideline pledged to beef up support for the culture industry and make it a more important part of the national economy.

Both the central and local governments have mapped out their goals of cultural development in next years.

The southernmost island province of Hainan has planned to increase the value-added output of its cultural industry to more than 8 percent of its GDP in 2020, and northeastern Jilin Province expects the ratio to reach 6 percent by the end of 2015.

Cai noted that the key to boost cultural development is to invest more.

Culture industry will gain more support in terms of bank loans, government spending, taxation and land use, he said.

Banks have begun to show their supports over the past two years.

Statistics from the China Development Bank showed that, by September, it has granted loans of 105 billion yuan (about 23.62 billion U.S. dollars) to projects related to art, tourism, sport, film and TV production, and publication.

The Bank of Shanghai approved loans of more than 40 million yuan to four culture projects including the Chinese version of the classic musical "Mamma Mia!"