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China’s film industry

China’s film industry
The latest news, analysis and opinion on China’s film industry. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
The micro drama My Sweet Home has become a viral sensation in China, attracting over 1 billion views in just a few days. Photo: Weibo
China consumption

China’s hottest new show is a Sichuan-dialect micro drama set in the 1980s

My Sweet Home has achieved phenomenal success by moving beyond the trashy tropes of China’s booming micro drama industry.

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Hong Kong society

Ne Zha 2 inspires John Lee to ‘overcome obstacles, forge path’ for Hong Kong

Asian cinema: Chinese films

China’s Ne Zha 2 still flying high as highest-grossing animated movie of all time

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Shenzhen

Opinion | What Hong Kong can take away from Ne Zha 2’s creative success

The city must achieve deeper creative integration. Ways must be found to bring Chinese, including Hong Kong, content to the world.

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People watch Ne Zha 2 in 4D at a cinema in Beijing on February 16. Photo: Xinhua
Hong Kong society

Mainland China’s Ne Zha 2 earns HK$5.6 million on first day in Hong Kong

Animated feature draws more than 64,000 viewers as families and patriotic groups help sell out showings.

Chinese culture

Opinion | At last, Chinese folklore adds new flavour to global pop culture

Drawing on ancient myths, China’s film and gaming industry is offering the world refreshing alternatives to the traditional Western canon.

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Hong Kong society

Mainland China’s record-breaking Ne Zha 2 to hit cinemas in Hong Kong, Macau

Animated tale from Chinese mythology has broken box office records on mainland, earning 9.7 billion yuan.

Ne Zha 2 has become the mainland’s biggest box office success. Photo: AFP
China's economic recovery

Quiet on set: China’s film industry fights for relevance as admissions flag

With lower ticket sales and fierce competition from online entertainment, China’s film industry faces demotion in cultural status.

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Golden week

China’s National Day box office breaches billion-yuan mark on day 3

The second entry in a historical war trilogy leads the way, with a sci-fi action film on its tail, but China’s film industry is still chasing pre-pandemic interest.

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TV shows and streaming video

Plot twists, revenge, cheating. The rise of Chinese micro dramas

China’s US$5 billion micro drama industry is booming, but its sometimes ‘pornographic’ and ‘vulgar’ content has the government concerned.

Zhu Jian (centre, left), 69, rehearses with other actors on the set of the micro drama Grandma’s Moon in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China, on July 16, 2024. Photo: Reuters
China’s Communist Party

China regulator says short films must follow the script for overseas screenings

Producers of all movies made in China must now follow existing approval rules if filmmakers wish to show their works abroad.

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On Thursday the China Film Administration announced that domestically produced short films can only appear at foreign film festivals or exhibitions if they obtain permits for public screenings.
US-China relations

Chinese state media say Netflix’s 3 Body Problem pushes US ‘cultural hegemony’

Official military site publishes blistering critique of sci-fi drama based on Hugo Award-winning novel by Chinese author Liu Cixin.

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Human rights in China

Chinese hit film is ‘fairy tale’ about right to self-defence, legal experts say

Top filmmaker Zhang Yimou’s new drama about justifiable defence filled mainland cinemas over Lunar New Year but is it realistic?

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Asian cinema: Chinese films

China’s big holiday films spark social media debate about body issues and justice

Actor, writer and director Jia Ling is drawing attention for dramatic 50kg weight loss as netizens discuss beauty standards in China.

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Jia Ling’s movie YOLO had drawn US$220 million at the box office four days after its release. Photo: Weibo
Trending in China

Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai’s TV hit, Blossoms Shanghai, sparks business boom

Businesses in China are cashing in on the huge popularity of Hong Kong movie director Wong Kar-wai’s new mainland TV series, Blossoms Shanghai.

Hong Kong film director Wong Kar-wai’s hugely popular new mainland TV series Blossoms Shanghai has sparked a spin-off business bonanza driven by fans eager to sample the lifestyle depicted in the show. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Weibo
Tibet

Tibetan film world mourns loss of groundbreaking director Pema Tseden

The award-winning director, who died aged 53 last week, was regarded as a pioneer of the Tibetan new wave who offered a glimpse into local life and culture.

Marvel

Video | Marvel movies return to Chinese cinemas after nearly 4 years

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China's economic recovery

Censorship, bankruptcies and Covid scars cloud China’s film industry rebound

China’s film industry had a strong start to the year, but it faces long-term challenges in the form of shrinking investment, rigid censorship and scars from the coronavirus pandemic.

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China’s box office sales were strong in January but the long-term outlook is gloomy. Photo: Getty Images
China stock market

Avatar 2, zero-Covid pivot keep China brokerages upbeat on market outlook

China’s biggest filmmakers and cinema operators are getting a dose of optimism from Hollywood blockbuster Avatar 2 and Beijing’s zero-Covid pivot.

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Cinema

Video | Chinese film-goers return to the cinema

Asian cinema

Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong wins at Taiwan’s Golden Horse film awards

Wong won the best actor award for playing a Hong Kong taxi driver helping a Pakistani refugee boy in The Sunny Side of the Street.

Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong holds his award for best actor at the Golden Horse Awards in Taipei, Taiwan on Saturday. Photo: AP
Asian cinema: Chinese films

China’s theatres try to lure back film-goers with industry-wide discounts

Some cinephiles welcome the discount scheme, valued at 100 million yuan, but others lament what they see as a lack of quality movies to lure them back.

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China’s cinemas have been forced to close from time to time as the nation’s zero-Covid policy keeps many of its people home. Photo: Xinhua
A-shares

Chinese movie studio Bona Film set for Shenzhen IPO after Nasdaq exit

The maker of last year’s top-grossing war movie The Battle of Lake Changjin and Chinese Doctors is due to price its stock offering later this week, ending a five-year wait.

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Chinese culture

China has 28-point plan to boost soft power overseas, increase cultural exports

Analysts say the ambitious initiative is a ‘top-level design’ to boost China’s cultural trade, and it comes at a time when geopolitical tensions are on the rise.

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Tencent

Tencent Pictures to prioritise ‘social responsibility’ over making money

Tencent Pictures, which has invested in Hollywood blockbusters such as the Terminator trilogy and Venom, will pull back from commercial films to focus on patriotic content that promotes ‘core socialist values’.

People walk past a poster for ‘1921’, the Tencent Pictures film about the founding of the Communist Party of China. Photo: AFP
Beijing Winter Olympics 2022

The ‘heavy burden’ of Zhang Yimou’s second Olympics opening ceremony

Acclaimed director is again overseeing the event and says it is important to show the ‘love, unity, and grand visions and values of the Chinese people’.

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Director Zhang Yimou runs with the Olympic torch in Beijing on Wednesday, the first day of the relay. Photo: Xinhua
Books and literature

China’s leading foreign actor on his first book and being ‘erased’ from films

Jonathan Kos-Read – aka Cao Cao – would have had no trouble drawing on his experiences navigating China’s film industry to evoke the treacherous atmosphere of Jin dynasty hierarchy in The Eunuch.

Live streaming

Screenwriters hope selling scripts through live streaming will help the industry recover

With China’s film and TV industry struggling to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, screenwriters are the latest people trying to cash in on live streaming ecommerce

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