Renowned stage actor and Vice Chairman of Beijing People's Art Theatre Pu Cunxin said an overly rapid reform of the cultural system would lead to the death of art institutions.

Pu made the remark during a group meeting Monday at the Fourth Session of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing.

In recent years, the government has led a reform of the cultural system to transform state-supported art institutions into private enterprises. In the newly issued draft of the 12th five-year plan (2011-15), the cultural industry is listed as a "pillar industry" for the future.

Although Pu agrees with the government's approach, he believes more time needs to be taken implementing it.

"We are still in a very early stage. If all art institutions are pushed into the market, they will die, especially traditional opera troupes," Pu said.

Pu, a veteran actor of classic dramas such as Cao Yu's "Thunderstorm" and Lin Zhaohua's adaptation of "Hamlet," thinks entertainment and art should be developed on different paths.

"Entertainment companies and stars have every right to make money and attract fans, but classic and high art performing institutions should be supported by the government," Pu said.

He cited as an example his theatre, which he categorized as providing dramas of high artistic quality and mental nourishment for the audience, but with limitations on its ticket prices.

'If we also sell tickets at 1,000 yuan like some companies do, nobody will come. These two categories cannot be mixed in one path," he said. He hopes Chinese culture can be more diversified.

Moreover, Pu thinks artists of state-supported art institutions shoulder responsibilities to develop cultural products that represent Chinese culture and spirit.

"Our task is to create qualified art for people from all social classes. Traditional Chinese culture was lost in the past 100 years for various reasons, but now as our country is well developed, we are beginning to revive it. It's unnecessary to compete with entertainers. We just need to do what we should do," Pu said.

Pu says the Beijing People's Art Theatre plans to commence a new program to perform classic dramas at a fixed time and place year round.

"If one tenth of Beijing residents come to our play, we will have an audience of 2 million, so there is great potential for artists to explore," Pu said.