China Media News

The PRC’s film industry is growing at a fantastic pace in every aspect: be it in production, exhibition, admissions or box office. In early 2012 China surpassed Japan as the world’s second largest theatrical market.

Designated next PRC President Xi Jinping’s decision to make the (moderate) opening of China’s film market a key topic for his first official visit to the US in February 2012 can be regarded as a promising step towards a more open and globally integrated Chinese media market. However, the overall situation of limited market access for foreign films and foreign film production companies is unlikely to improve significantly in the near- to mid-terms.

International film production companies aiming to secure a share of China’s skyrocketing box office receipts should therefore seek alternatives to direct film importation on flat-fee or revenue-share bases. A promising alternative, which has gained increasing attention from both foreign and Chinese players in the recent past, is co-production. Provided that certain requirements are adhered to, a Sino-foreign co- produced film is considered a domestic production and hence does not fall under the import quota and other restrictions imposed on foreign films.

However, the co-production business in China is tough, fraught with difficulties and unclarity about the rules. Knowledge, patience, intercultural competency, persistence, and last but not least, experience drawn from trial and error are all keys to success when co-producing in and with China.

To support companies interested in Sino-foreign film co-production in their quest for success, this report provides a general market and regulations overview, introduces the main goals that drive Chinese and foreign parties to engage in co-production and explains challenges that have to be overcome. To provide insight into the previous economic success of Sino-foreign co-productions, we analyzed the box office performance, origin, genre and global success of the top 50 films in Chinese theaters each year from 2006 to 2010 and the 143 Sino-foreign co-productions exhibited in China during the same time period.

This report puts the spotlight on one of the hottest topics in China’s, and in fact the global media industry today: co-producing feature films in and with China. It does not claim to supersede the need for foreign producers to conduct a thorough vetting of Chinese co-production partners and the claims and promises they make. Instead, the purpose of this report is to provide readers with the relevant knowledge and tools to define, (re-)assess and optimize their China-related co-production plans and to enhance foreign co-producers chance at success in one of the fastest growing, but murkiest film markets in the world. 

The report is available for purchase as pdf for a price of EUR99. If you like to purchase the report please send a message to [email protected].