Co-production also spreads the financial risk and makes available Chinese talent, shooting locations and production services.
China's 2012 box office of $2.75 billion may seem big, but it represents only an average of 0.3 admissions per-capita movie attendance in the country, according to China Media Monitor Intelligence. The US box office total for last year was $10.8 billion, according to CNN.
The Chinese domestic film category accounts for 55 percent of China's annual box office on average.
To qualify as a co-production and be labeled a domestic film, a movie usually needs at least one Chinese actor, some scenes filmed in China, content somehow related to China, and co-financing and revenue-sharing with a qualified local partner.
Movies also must be reviewed by the State Administration of Radio Film and Television, which prohibits violence, pornography and content that may "incite ethnic discrimination or undermine social stability".
"Chinese audiences are flocking to the movies to watch Chinese films (and) Hollywood fare and co-productions and appear eager for more," says Kate Bedingfield, Motion Picture Association of America spokesperson.
New cinema screens continue to be added at an average rate of eight screens per day in 2012. The total number of cinema screens in China now stands at more than 14,000 and is expected to more than double by 2015, she says.
Some co-productions have been major box office hits.
Journey to the West achieved the biggest opening day ever in China, grossing 76.85 million yuan ($12.3 million) on Feb 10 - the biggest single-day gross for any film released in China, grossing 122 million yuan on Feb 14, and the highest weekly gross for any film released in China with its opening week gross of 583 million yuan. It took the movie only eight days to reach a $100 million box-office take, the shortest time yet by a film to reach that mark.
5.5-magnitude quake hits China's Yunnan, 30 injured
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