Reporters from Guangming Daily did a poll including all of the people in China ranging from low-income people and students, to white-collar workers with an income of over 10,000 yuan. They found across the board, people agree the current fares of art performances are too high.
How does the fare go up?
Deputy party secretary Guo Yuliang, from the National Center for the Performing Arts, points out three factors should be taken into consideration when fixing the fare: cost, relation between supply and demand and the consumption capacity of the audience, among which the high cost of performance leads to the high fare.
Guo Yuliang analyzed the costs of stage performances include direct and indirect costs and are different in various theatres. As with the National Center of Performing Arts, the direct costs include personnel starring costs, which account for 60 percent or even more (for symphony performances, the composition cost accounts for a high proportion), publicity and promotion costs that occupy 18 percent, tax fees that account for 15 percent, and reception, travel and other expenses that account for about 7 percent. There are also indirect costs which are not directly reflected in the daily expenses of the project, such as expenses of security and utilities.
In addition to the high performance costs, high tax rates are also a factor which raises the fare. In China, most of the cultural venues are not listed into public cultural facilities like libraries and museums and should not only pay property taxes, but also pay 5 to 20 percent in sales tax in accordance with commercial and entertainment standards, which are also included into the ticket fare.
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