Page 334 - 2020 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
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0 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
and three Chinese titles had earning that broke box office decline. The Fan Bingbing scandal, and
the US$145 million threshold. It was not only the the government’s limits on pay for performers,
Chinese titles that underperformed. Several of the spooked investors and slowed production at studios
anticipated Hollywood titles also failed to live up to that had been spooling out films to meet demand
expectations (Davis). that more than quintupled since 2010 to US$8.2
billion in 2018. The decline erodes China’s status
Tougher censorship by the Chinese government as a growth engine for Hollywood movies as US
has also blocked potential hits and forced film fans are increasingly watching online rather
filmmakers to stick with safe formulas that are not than at the cinema. Projections for China’s ticket
winning audiences, while a tax evasion crackdown revenue to overtake the US as the world’s largest
has made some investors reluctant to back films, in 2020 are fading, even though China has already
crimping output even further. In the year after surpassed the US in number of screens. Censorship
Chinese President Xi Jinping put the Communist was not only leading to a decline in Chinese films
Party’s propaganda office in charge of regulating that were approved, it was prompting filmmakers to
films, the country’s box office totals are headed rely heavily on formula-driven movies that may lack
for their first year-on-year decline in at least a appeal, Curran said. 2019 was expected to end flat or
decade. The drop comes in a year that has seen a “small percentage” down from 2018 (Bloomberg).
China toughen censorship on the movie industry.
The ruling Communist Party will celebrate the 70th Television
anniversary of the nation’s foundation in October,
which is leading to more scrutiny of themes that The Chinese government moved forward with
could be considered politically sensitive to the plans to restrict foreign content on broadcast
party. In addition, Beijing’s also cracking down on television and online video platforms. The National
“pornographic or vulgar content” in TV and films. Radio and Television Administration’s stated objective
And at least one movie didn’t end up coming to is to exclude content that presents as violence,
theaters after its star, Fan Bingbing, was embroiled terrorism, incitement to crime, and a threat to social
in a tax-evasion scandal Huang, China’s Censorship). stability and national sentiment. It is also intended
to prevent content that “deviates from socialist core
Further hurting the industry, potential summer values.” The rules particularly targets foreign current
hits that might have come to the rescue have been affairs shows, but its scope also includes feature film
cancelled, with no explanation. Every film must and animation. This is the first legislation introduced
be cleared by the government to appear in China by the new regulatory body since oversight of the
and an informal cap has been imposed of about media and entertainment sector was shifted to the
34 foreign films a year on a revenue-sharing basis. propaganda department of the Communist Party
Studios have lobbied China to raise that number in 2018. But it fits with an established pattern of
and to sweeten the revenue-sharing arrangement growing conservatism by Chinese media regulators,
under which they take in about 25 per cent of box and also with expanded central government
office sales, significantly less than in North America controls over the Internet. Other new restrictions
and other markets. At the same time, this makes have been placed on live streaming and online
foreign blockbusters especially attractive as a way to gaming. China’s version of satirical show Saturday
boost cinema revenue in China. The summer season Night Live was temporarily taken off the air in the
approval for Hobbs & Shaw suggests that the success summer of 2018, and political satire is increasingly
of local blockbusters and comedies in 2017 and 2018 less welcome. Zhuang Rongwen, head of the
have failed to sustain a trend away from Hollywood Cyberspace Administration of China, recently set out
fare to fill seats. A Chinese science-fiction hit The a similarly robust approach. Writing in the political
Wandering Earth is still 2019’s bestselling film with magazine Qiushi, he called for a “people’s war” and
about US$691 million, though it was followed closely plans to rehabilitate China’s “cyber ecology.” He
by the Disney-owned Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame proposed the promotion of “positive energy” and the
at US$614 million. The top four films in 2018 were suppression of negative elements including wrong
all Chinese. A drop in Chinese film production over ideological trends, unflattering portrayals of China’s
the past year was the biggest contributor to the
334
and three Chinese titles had earning that broke box office decline. The Fan Bingbing scandal, and
the US$145 million threshold. It was not only the the government’s limits on pay for performers,
Chinese titles that underperformed. Several of the spooked investors and slowed production at studios
anticipated Hollywood titles also failed to live up to that had been spooling out films to meet demand
expectations (Davis). that more than quintupled since 2010 to US$8.2
billion in 2018. The decline erodes China’s status
Tougher censorship by the Chinese government as a growth engine for Hollywood movies as US
has also blocked potential hits and forced film fans are increasingly watching online rather
filmmakers to stick with safe formulas that are not than at the cinema. Projections for China’s ticket
winning audiences, while a tax evasion crackdown revenue to overtake the US as the world’s largest
has made some investors reluctant to back films, in 2020 are fading, even though China has already
crimping output even further. In the year after surpassed the US in number of screens. Censorship
Chinese President Xi Jinping put the Communist was not only leading to a decline in Chinese films
Party’s propaganda office in charge of regulating that were approved, it was prompting filmmakers to
films, the country’s box office totals are headed rely heavily on formula-driven movies that may lack
for their first year-on-year decline in at least a appeal, Curran said. 2019 was expected to end flat or
decade. The drop comes in a year that has seen a “small percentage” down from 2018 (Bloomberg).
China toughen censorship on the movie industry.
The ruling Communist Party will celebrate the 70th Television
anniversary of the nation’s foundation in October,
which is leading to more scrutiny of themes that The Chinese government moved forward with
could be considered politically sensitive to the plans to restrict foreign content on broadcast
party. In addition, Beijing’s also cracking down on television and online video platforms. The National
“pornographic or vulgar content” in TV and films. Radio and Television Administration’s stated objective
And at least one movie didn’t end up coming to is to exclude content that presents as violence,
theaters after its star, Fan Bingbing, was embroiled terrorism, incitement to crime, and a threat to social
in a tax-evasion scandal Huang, China’s Censorship). stability and national sentiment. It is also intended
to prevent content that “deviates from socialist core
Further hurting the industry, potential summer values.” The rules particularly targets foreign current
hits that might have come to the rescue have been affairs shows, but its scope also includes feature film
cancelled, with no explanation. Every film must and animation. This is the first legislation introduced
be cleared by the government to appear in China by the new regulatory body since oversight of the
and an informal cap has been imposed of about media and entertainment sector was shifted to the
34 foreign films a year on a revenue-sharing basis. propaganda department of the Communist Party
Studios have lobbied China to raise that number in 2018. But it fits with an established pattern of
and to sweeten the revenue-sharing arrangement growing conservatism by Chinese media regulators,
under which they take in about 25 per cent of box and also with expanded central government
office sales, significantly less than in North America controls over the Internet. Other new restrictions
and other markets. At the same time, this makes have been placed on live streaming and online
foreign blockbusters especially attractive as a way to gaming. China’s version of satirical show Saturday
boost cinema revenue in China. The summer season Night Live was temporarily taken off the air in the
approval for Hobbs & Shaw suggests that the success summer of 2018, and political satire is increasingly
of local blockbusters and comedies in 2017 and 2018 less welcome. Zhuang Rongwen, head of the
have failed to sustain a trend away from Hollywood Cyberspace Administration of China, recently set out
fare to fill seats. A Chinese science-fiction hit The a similarly robust approach. Writing in the political
Wandering Earth is still 2019’s bestselling film with magazine Qiushi, he called for a “people’s war” and
about US$691 million, though it was followed closely plans to rehabilitate China’s “cyber ecology.” He
by the Disney-owned Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame proposed the promotion of “positive energy” and the
at US$614 million. The top four films in 2018 were suppression of negative elements including wrong
all Chinese. A drop in Chinese film production over ideological trends, unflattering portrayals of China’s
the past year was the biggest contributor to the
334
