War dramas dominated Chinese TV screens in 2005, according to an official in charge of China's TV administration.

"Shining Swords," telling a general's account of his experiences in World War II, was the most popular drama in 2005 with 10.3 percent of average audience ratings, according to the CVSC-SOFRES Media, a Beijing-based media research institute.

Other war dramas, such as "Eight Route Army," "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" and "Historical Sky" also were also very popular among Chinese viewers in 2005, the 60the anniversary of the end of World War II.

"TV dramas such as 'Shining Swords' combined grandiose narration and personal narration, with epic characteristics and sharp personality," Wang Weiping, Deputy Director of the TV Bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), told Xinhua on Friday.

Zhong Chengxiang, Vice President of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, attributed the success of war TV dramas to their portrayal of history.

"They eulogized the persevering spirit of the Chinese nation, helped cultivate the idea of coherence and provided spiritual support to the building of the country," he said.

Statistics from the SARFT show that China played TV dramas on 233 national and provincial-level TV channels from a total of 288 in 2005.

"TV dramas have undoubtedly become the mainstay of a TV station as they accounted for the bulk of commercial income of those TV channels," Wang said, adding that Chinese TV drama producers have showed great passion by producing a total of 12,265 episodes in 2004 and 12,447 in 2005.

Source: Xinhua