Chinese flock to see foreign films
Foreign films earned Rmb5.27bn ($827m) from ticket sales in China in the first six months of this year, over 90 per cent more than box-office sales during the same period in 2011.
Domestic productions, which had performed well in recent years, have taken a hit in the face of the new level of competition. Box-office sales for Chinese films dropped 4.3 per cent to Rmb2.8bn in the first half.
Beijing controls competition by forcing foreign film groups to distribute in China through a small number of government-picked domestic companies such as China Film Group. They frequently set release dates in a way that foreign movies compete with each other and domestic films gain periods without rivalry from Hollywood blockbusters.
As a result, Hollywood studios and Chinese media groups have embarked on a series of co-production ventures. Films made under such co-operations are not subject to the imported film quota.