BEIJING - The Ministry of Finance said Wednesday that some 1.5 billion yuan ($217 million) from the central finance has been channeled to the country's centrally-administered cultural enterprises this year.

The amount marked an increase of 25 percent from the previous year, said the ministry in a statement.

The move aims at implementing the country's key cultural development strategy and supporting cultural enterprises in their missions to complete corporate restructuring and expand business abroad.

For the next step, the ministry will actively explore budget performance evaluation in cultural enterprises and guide them to make good use of budget funds from the state's coffers so as to enhance the efficiency of State-owned assets operating and support the reform and development of cultural enterprises.