BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Monday urged greater efforts in carrying forward China's folk cultural heritage and promoting the country's folk literature and arts, so that culture would be let to play a better role in advancing development.

Liu Yunshan, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks while addressing the national congress of the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Society that opened on Monday.

"Folk literature and arts are the essence of traditional Chinese culture and should be well-preserved and passed on from generation to generation," Liu said.

He noted that China had already rolled out the economic and social development blueprint for the 12th Five-Year-Plan Period (2011-2015), wherein new requirements have been laid out about achieving new breakthroughs in cultural reform and development.

"I hope folk writers and artists in China would stick to advanced culture for orientation, while taking the initiatives to resist decadent cultural phenomena and to work to let folk literature and arts to play a part in creating role models and boosting morale," said Liu.

Liu, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also called for a vision of the times and a broad perspective in dealing with the tradition of the profound Chinese national culture, and tolerance and open-mindedness in borrowing ideas from healthy foreign cultural achievements.

"The folk literature and arts will then be given a new lease on life, so as to meet the increasing cultural needs of the people in China," said Liu.