Hollywood breaks China's domestic film monopoly

China’s broadcast regulator said a deal with the US to open up the Chinese film market to American movies is decreasing local movie producers’ market share, Reuters reported. Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping signed the movie agreement in February, which added 14 films to China’s yearly quota of 20 foreign movies that can be screened domestically. After the pact was signed, the proportion of revenues generated by American movies has gone up by a “large margin,” said Tian Jin, vice minister of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. “The competitiveness of Chinese-made films must be raised,” he said. The agreement was signed after a 2009 World Trade Organization case in which the US successfully challenged Beijing’s restrictive practices in the Chinese film market.