BEIJING, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- China allocated 500 million yuan (79.61 million U.S. dollars) to fund the development of centrally-administered state-owned cultural enterprises last year, the Ministry of Finance said Tuesday.

The funds were used to support 41 projects in areas such as mergers and reorganization among 30 centrally-administered state-owned cultural enterprises, the ministry said in a statement.

In a bid to integrate resources, upgrade the industry and help those enterprises with their business overseas, the ministry issued a total of 1.06 billion yuan for 52 such projects in 2011 and 2012, the ministry's data show.

A recent report from the ministry said state-owned cultural enterprises have become a new driving force in state-dominated industry sectors.

China had 10,365 state-owned cultural enterprises as of the end of 2011, with 2,578 under the administration of the central government. Also at the end of 2011, their combined assets and profits reached 1.6 trillion yuan and 85 billion yuan, respectively, according to the report.