State-owned film studios eye IPOs

Two state-owned movie studios are awaiting approval from China’s securities regulator to list on Shanghai’s stock exchange, The Wall Street Journal reported. An IPO would help the companies raise money to continue competing with Hollywood movies, a task the Chinese government seems determined to follow through on. Domestic films accounted for 41% of China’s box office revenues during the first 10 months of the year, Tian Jin, China’s vice minister of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said at the Party Congress earlier this month. Hollywood blockbusters, especially 3-D movies, continued to overpower China’s industry this year. Beijing views the domestic film industry as an important source of cultural influence abroad, a force also known as soft power. Insiders said the creative freedom inherent to Hollywood would keep Chinese audiences flocking to imported films.