BEIJING, Nov. 18 -- Chinese artists should thoroughly examine the lives of people as a source of inspiration for masterpieces, the top publicity official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said.

Liu Qibao, chief of the publicity department of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks during a campaign to encourage artists to live among the masses. He said people should be put at the center of artistic and literary creation.

Artists should be aware of whom they work for, whom they rely on and who they are. These are the three fundamental problems, Liu said.

Current artists should focus on marxist approach to arts, a viewpoint on the masses, a strong idea of the times and correct values.

Liu said artists should draw sources of inspiration for their works, and create more works with touching scenarios and virtues. Artists should also provide culture for the grassroots to help cultivate cultural workers.

The campaign came after a meeting earlier last month on art and literature held by China's central authority and presided over by President Xi Jinping.

Xi urged artists to create more works that are both artistically outstanding and morally inspiring, in order to serve the people and socialism and to present socialist core values.

Artists should not "lose themselves in the tide of market economy nor go astray while answering the question of whom to serve, otherwise their works will lack vitality," he said.

Art works should not be the "slaves" of the market and should not bear "the stench of money," Xi said at the meeting.