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China Seeks More Hollywood Clout with Movie Fund
By wchung | 08 Jul, 2025
China unveiled on Wednesday a new government-backed fund for co-financing movies with major Hollywood studios. The fund bears the cumbersome name China Mainstream Media National Film Capital Hollywood Group Inc (CMMNFCHG), according to Yang Butin, former chairman of state-sponsored China Film Group.
“China boasts a long history and a rich culture,” Yang said at a Los Angeles film finance conference. “But we must see that compared with the American film industry, we still have a long way to go in terms of screenwriting, production, marketing and distribution.”
Yang said the fund was created to finance movies that appeal to both Chinese and global audiences while helping China develop its movie production industry. The precise amount of the fund was not revealed but Yang said it would be “adequate” to co-finance Hollywood studio films.
Last month Vice President Xi Jinping unveiled rules that would give foreign films better access to China’s theaters and a bigger cut of box office receipts.
Last year Chinese box office receipts rose about 35% to over $2 billion. At that rate of growth it is expected to hit $5 billion in 2012, making it the world’s second largest behind the US.
North American box office has been shrinking for the past two years, falling to just $10.2 billion in 2011.
The new regulations and movie fund are part of China’s soft-power offensive. By making Hollywood feel its economic clout, Beijing hopes to secure a more positive portrayal of its regime and of China’s culture. In addition to enhancing its image abroad, Beijing hopes to enhance the self-image of its own people, thereby minimizing the potential for a popular uprising.
On the other side of the picture, the desire to tap China’s huge potential film market makes US studios eager to secure a partner who can provide better access and the assurance of distribution. The new film fund is calculated to tap that desire on the part of Hollywood executives.
Until now China has allowed in only 20 foreign films a year and kept their share of ticket shares to between 13.5 and 17.5% — to Hollywood’s disgruntlement. After years of pressing for an opening of the film market, the US side achieved the recent breakthrough during Xi’s February state visit. The new rules will let in 14 more foreign films a year as long as they are made in 3-D or for the big-screen Imax format. The foreign share of ticket sales have been raised to 25%
The quotas don’t apply to films co-produced by ventures that are majority-owned by Chinese firms. Such firms can also get up to 43% of box office receipts, Yang said.
Of several such tie-ups announced over the last year, the most recent partners DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. with three Chinese companies in a Shanghai studio. Dreamworks will take a 45% stake and will begin cooperating on productions beginning this year.
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