China's Film Industry Woos Overseas Investment

Overseas investors may find new opportunities in China's film industry as the nation rebuilds its cinemas with more advanced technology.

According to a recent document from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Ministry of Culture, overseas investment is now welcomed in film production, technology upgrading and construction of existing cinemas in China.

Statistics show that China has 5,000 cinemas and most of them were built between the 1950s and 1980s.

Two Hong Kong-sponsored film cities in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, earned 13 million yuan (about US$1.57 million) in the first year after they were put into operation, accounting for 80 percent of income generated from cinemas in the province.

Other overseas-funded high-grade cinemas in Shanghai and Chongqing have also recorded remarkable profits in recent years.

Cinema development is booming in large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Chongqing.

Experts estimated that China still needs about 20,000 film screens to cater to the growing demand for films.

During the latest Fifth Changchun Film Festival, some 240,000 fans in the country have taken part in the voting for their favorite films. Watching films is also the most popular entertainment in the rural parts of the country.

By the end of this year, some 300 cinemas will go online to sell tickets. More efforts are being made to improve cinema facilities and equipment. Film quality will also be enhanced by digital film producing companies.

Liu Jianzhong, director of the Film Department under the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said upgrading cinema equipment and film-producing technology will further the development of China's film industry.

A Hong Kong-based film corporation plans to invest about 50 million yuan (over US$6 million) in China within a year to produce films.

China's film market has unlimited opportunities for overseas investment. Experts estimate that the film industry will flourish in the near future and become a new economic growth area.

Wen Yuxu, chief supervisor of Asia with the Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., said he is confident about their business development in China and China's flourishing film industry.



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