China dashes Hollywood's hopes for greater access in 2014

"But China’s often draconian film regulators hold a tight grip over the market, controlling the inflow of foreign films in order to protect the box office share of domestic ventures."

This a pattern the Chinese follow in every domestic industry.

So what were they expecting? If they want to keep censorship, they have to limit what comes in.

Control of the people is the goal, create pro nationalistic movies and censor the heck the movies you let in, classic Communist State tactics.

This way their bootlegging of DVDs can still prosper.

In terms of making money hand over fist, Hollywood's doing just fine, thank you very much.

In 2013, all 10 of the top 10 grossing pictures in the world were...Hollywood productions. Every one of these films grossed more than $600 Million Dollars each, with the top ranked Iron Man 3 making more than 1.2 Billion!!

That's not to say these were the BEST films of the year, not by a long stretch, but still...no problems with this healthy sector of the economy...

I'm with the Chinese on this one. Hollywood used to produce movies, now it produces dross.

Hongo,

The value of a movie is determined by its box office, not its acceptability to the culture police (although I'm in general agreement with your assessment of Hollywood productions as of late).

This is about the CCP preventing wide-spread dissemination of alternative ideas (and the protection of domestic industry...)

Give the studios the right to distribute and then let the wonderful experiment of the free market occur. If the Chinese public doesn't want to see the movies (as I felt w the entire Transformers series), I'm betting they won't (as I didn't).

What could the CCP possibly be afraid of? Oh yeah,.... Freedom. Democracy. The revelation that their governing ideology is a farce. That kind of thing.....

Why should the Chinese let their culture be driven down to the US level?

China should pay Hollywood for projected losses from these quotas if they expect to keep unfettered access to US markets. Or oh yeah...keep buying more Treasury Bonds.

Both Japan and China should restrict the type and quantity of US films because : (1) The violent crimes rate per 1000 people in US is much higher that of Japan or China. Movies should be banned because of their violent content not based on true stories, like those about gangsters. (2) US produces a lot of "trash" movies. (3) Both countries should protect their movie industry.

Both Japan and China should restrict the type and quantity of US films because : (1) The violent crimes rate per 1000 people in US is much higher that of Japan or China. Movies should be banned because of their violent content not based on true stories, like those about gangsters. (2) US produces a lot of "trash" movies. (3) Both countries should protect their movie industry.

There is so much about this that defies the real-world. Violent (or any other) American movies are hugely popular in countries with miniscule crime rates- and indeed in countries where crime rates have been in steady decline. On top of this, I've seen plenty of Japanese, Chinese and assorted movies where the protagonists and their enemies all lie dead in pools of their own blood at the end. Back to the main topic, I think countries have every right to quotas as a buffer for cultural reasons (China, France, Australia etc), to keep local content from being flooded by cheap mass-productions from overseas. The quality of U.S entertainment is in the beholder of course, but if you don't like it then feel free not to watch it and keep your kiddies away from it until they're mature enough to handle the context.

I would vet every American film because many values that Hollywood is trying to sell to the world are not shared by traditional cultures. Traditional USA culture is appalled as well. Maybe Hollywood can convince the world but Africa looks to be a strong holdout for traditional values. Japan will remain the same. Lip service but nothing will happen. China? I think they still have some honor left.

I wish we could get some of their films marketed over here. Must be some good ones.

I actually saw a great Japanese series on the internet about a doctor with great values taught. It was wonderful. God Bless whoever was involved with that series. It would be good for the States to see other cultures' productions more often.

If China is allowed to protect its market, then US should be allowed to protect its market too.

strict quota for imported Hollywood movies

That's a quota for all imported movies, including Chinese ones (those not shot within Beijing's approval scheme). It's a huge censorship and market manipulation.

US should be allowed to protect its market too.

They are not allowed and they have not done it forever ?

US should be allowed to protect its market too.

They are not allowed and they have not done it forever ?

Other countries keep taking 'em to the WTO tribunal.

If a culture needs protection then this is a sure sign that he cultures time is passed. If you let the Chinese watch whatever's available and they like Hollywood ( as crappy as it is these days) more than their murderous Japanese soldier movies then so be it. Protecting culture is the stupidest sounding thing I hear regularly living in Easy Asia. Let the people choose for themselves.

David Foley, I can see where you're coming from and often it's good to have some healthy competition to spur things along- but cultures, like endangered species can definitely be worth preserving as something unique and enriching to everyone overall. For this reason I support such measures to defend against being swamped.

Both Japan and China should restrict the type and quantity of US films because : (1) The violent crimes rate per 1000 people in US is much higher that of Japan or China.

But at least we have the freedom to watch what we want to.

Movies should be banned because of their violent content not based on true stories, like those about gangsters.

On who's authority? It's a personal preference choice with thousands of movies to choose and about over 300 new movies being shown each year, there is a little something for everyone.

(2) US produces a lot of "trash" movies. (3) Both countries should protect their movie industry. >

A lot of countries produce TRASH MOVIES, a lot. I could name a dozen right now, but that would be off topic. It's totally subjective.

There is so much about this that defies the real-world. Violent (or any other) American movies are hugely popular in countries with miniscule crime rates- and indeed in countries where crime rates have been in steady decline. On top of this, I've seen plenty of Japanese, Chinese and assorted movies where the protagonists and their enemies all lie dead in pools of their own blood at the end.

Not entirely, but partially true.

Back to the main topic, I think countries have every right to quotas as a buffer for cultural reasons (China, France, Australia etc), to keep local content from being flooded by cheap mass-productions from overseas. The quality of U.S entertainment is in the beholder of course, but if you don't like it then feel free not to watch it and keep your kiddies away from it until they're mature enough to handle the context.

I completely agree.

It looks like the Chinese communism has failed in creating minds above western decadence, greed, materialism or even roaring Hollywood stupidity. Communism was indeed a failure.