– This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on February 29, Monday.
Welcome to CNBC Business Daily, I'm Qian Chen.
You probably just watched this year's Academy Awards ceremony and might have noticed many of the nominated movies enjoyed astonishing box results in China.
Hollywood movies accounted for 38.4 percent of the Chinese box office in 2015, falling from a 45.5 percent market share in 2014.
The box office in China, the world's second-largest moviegoing market, grew an astonishing 48.7 percent in 2015, reaching a record $6.78 billion, the country's film regulator reported late Thursday. By the end of 2017, China is expected to surpass North America - which reached a record $11 billion in box-office revenue in 2015 - as the largest movie market in the world, according the Hollywood reporter.
For US companies, the Chinese market is promising.
Here's what IMAX CEO said on the company's next step in China.
[Richard Gelfond, IMAX CEO] "103522 In china, we set up a China film fund with China Capital Coorperate fund CMC and we raise 50 million dollars, so we are gonna invest along side of Chinese studios and local production.103536"
Meanwhile, we have seen quite a few deals reached recently between the US and Chinese entertainment companies.
China's Perfect World Pictures has struck a multiyear deal to finance films with Universal Pictures, Warner Bros has entered into a joint venture with China Media Capital to set up Flagship Entertainment Group, and recently, in the largest China-Hollywood deal to date, conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group Co. has agreed to acquire production and finance company Legendary Entertainment.
One movie I have to mention here is Kung Fu Panda 3, where was made as a co-production between DreamWorks Animation and Oriental DreamWorks, a Shanghai-based entity created in 2012.Guess what, for the first day's box office, China outperformed the US.
[Amy Yong Macquarie, Associate Director, Research Analyst] "163222 They acutally have a stake of oriental dreamworks about 45% stake - a third of Kong Fu Panda was acutally produced in China, they were very stragetic, and releasing the film right ahead of the lunar Chinese New Year, so (China) is huge growh story for US investors and global investors. 063241"
China's film market has become an important driver of revenue for studios. Now the second largest behind the U.S., it could become the world's largest as soon as next year, according to some estimates.
More deals are coming, not limited to the film industry, but the global entertainment cooperations.China's largest commercial property group Dalian Wanda and its French partner Immochan announced Friday that they have reached an agreement over investment contract to develop together the project of Europacity, a leading private project for leisure, culture, retail and entertainment in Europe.
CNBC's Qian Chen, reporting from Singapore.
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