Going global

"Kung Fu belongs to China, giant pandas also come from China. So why was 'Kung Fu Panda' an American movie made by Hollywood?" This was a question posed by the host of a panel discussion on China's film industry at the 4th Silk Road International Film Festival.

Directors, producers and film critics hold a panel discussion on China's movie industry during the 4th Silk Road International Film Festival in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, on Dec. 2, 2017. [Photo by Sun Tao/China.org.cn]

The event was itself an attempt to address the global competitiveness of developing movie industries among Belt and Road countries. The annual festival was founded soon after the initiative's launch as a platform to promote "international cooperation and exchange."

The panelists, which included movie directors, producers and critics, could not come up with an answer to the question. However, most agreed that before Chinese movies can go global, they must establish a stronger base in the domestic market.

Chen Sicheng, director of "Detective Chinatown," discussed the need to secure domestic audiences. "For us young filmmakers, the greatest tragedy is if Chinese moviegoers only watch Hollywood films."

Chen's fears are not unfounded. According to the newly published white paper, while China's domestic box office revenue more than doubled from 21.8 billion yuan in 2013 to 49.3 billion yuan in 2016, the proportion of the revenue for domestic films remained virtually unchanged at about 58 percent.

However, with box office hits like "Bad Genius" and "Dangal" (US$190.64 million in China), there is a clear opening for non-Hollywood film production to help diversify the lineup of imported movies into China and take a foothold in the country.

Moreover, the 11 Belt and Road countries included in the white paper together had over 13,000 movie theaters by the end of 2016, totaling over 70,000 screens. During that year, their box offices grossed over US$14 billion, accounting for over 35 percent of the global box office revenue.

Zhu said he was pleasantly surprised by the combined scale of these markets. "The numbers help point to a clear direction for how Chinese movies can go global." As opposed to directly competing in American movie theaters, Zhu said there is plenty of untapped potential in markets in other parts of the world, such as those along the Belt and Road routes.

"We realize there is still a large gap between Chinese and American movies today," he said. "But eventually, when there are 60-plus other countries that like our movies, we will then for sure make it into North American theaters."

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