China publishes "most complete" book of fine arts

China has published "the most complete" collected works of domestic fine arts from ancient to contemporary times, according to a seminar on the publication Tuesday.

Liu Yunshan, head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, wrote in a congratulatory letter that the collected works are "masterpieces" covering representative Chinese works of all ages, which will profoundly influence the promotion and development of Chinese culture and arts.

Liu encouraged publishers to create more quality cultural products with Chinese characteristics.

The project of compiling the collected works started in the 1980s in order to rescue the art legacy. More than 30 publishing houses, hundreds of artists, critics and archaeology appraisal experts, and more than 3,000 editors worked on it over the past 25 years.

The works cover tens of thousands of pieces of paintings, sculptures, architecture, calligraphy and handicrafts between the New Stone Age and the 1990s.