China targets music industry output of $47 bln by 2020

BEIJING (Reuters) - China aims to build up its music industry, targeting output of 300 billion yuan ($47 billion) by 2020, the state-owned Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. The goal is part of China's latest Five-Year Plan, a blueprint for economic and social development between 2016 and 2020. The plan would include cultivating large scale music companies, establishing standards for the industry and encouraging the industry to expand abroad, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television told a forum in Beijing, according to the Xinhua report. The report did not give a figure for the current value of music industry output. China's government has pushed to develop the domestic entertainment industry, which experts say is aimed at promoting Chinese soft power in hopes of competing with the influence of Hollywood and the U.S. television and music industries. At the same time, Beijing is tightening control over online music and encouraging online streaming services to self censor content that may be deemed a threat to China's stability. ($1 = 6.3987 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Keith Weir)