China's Film Industry Partly Opens to Overseas InvestorsChina has taken an official and bold step to allow overseas investors to enter the local film industry, though they are still banned from becoming the main stake-holders in any local film company.The reform step was jointly proposed by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Ministry of Culture which recently issued "Some Comments on the Further Deepening of Reform in the Film Industry." The Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee has approved the proposals in a circular, urging the implementation of what the two central government departments have put forward. The "Comments" says that, after years of active reforms, the country's film industry has been reinvigorated, but it is still plagued with many problems that are hampering the development of the sector. The "Comments" calls for strengthening the reform in the film industry. The film industry should carry out market-oriented reforms, while adhering to the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the cardinal line and policy of the Party, it says. Top priority should be given to the social impacts of films, and the relationship between social results and economic gains should be handled correctly, according to the "Comments." The control of the Party and the government over the industry must be maintained by appointing the local Party secretary as the representative of the legal person of a film company group and ensuring that the state hold the main stake in film production, distribution and projection units with overseas capital, according to the document. |
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