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Graphic shows U.S. and Chinese box office earnings since 2008.
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BUSINESS

China’s foreign film imports

By Duncan Mil

July 6, 2017 - China’s box office surged 20 percent year on year in the second quarter of 2017 to US$1.9 billion, boosted by Hollywood and Bollywood movies. Out of the top 10 films only two were made in China.

Beijing has relaxed restrictions on foreign films in a bid to avoid China’s first ever drop in box office revenue.

Universal Pictures’ “Fast and Furious 8” grossed $392.8 million and Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” earned $172.3 million from April to June.

India’s “Dangal” joined Hollywood’s blockbusters. Made by Aamir Khan Productions “Dangal” has become the highest-grossing non-Hollywood foreign film ever in China to date, coming in second in the quarter with $189.6 million.

For years China protected its growing domestic film industry from Hollywood domination with a strict quota limiting the number of foreign movies. But in 2012, a landmark deal was signed by former vice president Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, increasing the number of foreign films from 20 to 34 per year and boosting the share of box-office revenue from 13% to 25%.

In December 2016, in a bid to halt the slowdown in ticket sales, regulators approved an extra five “cultural exchange projects”, bringing the year’s total film imports to 39 — a modest de facto expansion of the quota.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 06/07/2017; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Universal Pictures, Aamir Khan Productions, Getty Images
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