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"We publish more than 300,000 books every year, but how many of them could be compared with the scriptures inherited from our ancestors?" Cai told the state news agency.
"We produce some 400 movies and hundreds of TV drama programmes each year, but how many of them will be recognised as classics?" he said.
The minister said some local governments had misspent their money building vanity projects instead of public culture facilities.
He said overall government investment in culture was low, accounting for less than one percent of expenditure by the average provincial-level region.
"In today's world, a country's culture and economy are inseparable. A government must pay more attention to culture and originality if it wants to improve the quality of economic development," Cai said.
The minister said vulgar publications were a side effect of China's move to a market-oriented economy where cheap entertainment was passed off as culture.
Cai did not name any publications or television programmes in his interview but the government has targeted matchmaking shows over their sexual comments and "morally provocative" hosts.
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, China's media watchdog, issued guidelines in June amid concern over the racy dating programmes.
Popular shows such as "If You Are The One" or "Take Me Out" have been accused of provoking contestants to spice up the programmes, getting them to abuse each other or admit to being gold-diggers.
Xinhua said tens of thousands of young men and women had applied to participate in programmes such as "Take Me Out" and "Run For Love" which attract millions of viewers.
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"We produce some 400 movies and hundreds of TV drama programmes each year, but how many of them will be recognised as classics?" he said.
The minister said some local governments had misspent their money building vanity projects instead of public culture facilities.
He said overall government investment in culture was low, accounting for less than one percent of expenditure by the average provincial-level region.
"In today's world, a country's culture and economy are inseparable. A government must pay more attention to culture and originality if it wants to improve the quality of economic development," Cai said.
The minister said vulgar publications were a side effect of China's move to a market-oriented economy where cheap entertainment was passed off as culture.
Cai did not name any publications or television programmes in his interview but the government has targeted matchmaking shows over their sexual comments and "morally provocative" hosts.
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, China's media watchdog, issued guidelines in June amid concern over the racy dating programmes.
Popular shows such as "If You Are The One" or "Take Me Out" have been accused of provoking contestants to spice up the programmes, getting them to abuse each other or admit to being gold-diggers.
Xinhua said tens of thousands of young men and women had applied to participate in programmes such as "Take Me Out" and "Run For Love" which attract millions of viewers.
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