ENTERTAINMENT:CHINA HAS agreed to lift some controls on the distribution of US-made films in a deal that will boost Hollywood export revenues.
The development will also pave the way for the industry’s expansion in the world’s fastest growing media market.
China caps the number of foreign films it allows to be screened at 20. But Beijing has agreed to exempt an additional 14 “premium format films”, shot in 3D or using the big-screen Imax format, from the quota .
“This agreement with China will make it easier than ever before for US studios and independent filmmakers to reach the fast-growing Chinese audience, supporting thousands of American jobs in and around the film industry,” said US vice-president Joe Biden.
The deal comes three years after the World Trade Organisation criticised Beijing for restricting market access. China promised to comply with the WTO by March 2011, but missed the deadline. It has worked with the US on a compromise since then.
The agreement follows the endorsement by China’s vice-president and likely next leader Xi Jinping of a significant tie-up between DreamWorks Animation and three state-owned Chinese media groups.
That deal gives DreamWorks a foothold in China and a way around existing quota restrictions because it will have created a new, China-based company – Oriental DreamWorks – with its partners. DreamWorks is run by Jeffrey Katzenberg, one of US president Barack Obama’s biggest fundraisers and supporters.
The Chinese cinema market is growing rapidly, with box-office revenues up from $1.6 billion in 2010 to $2.1 billion in 2011. Much of the increase has been driven by 3D movies.
$2.1 billion:Box-office revenues in China in 2011
– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012
