On the afternoon of 20 November 2019, the “Chinese Film Investment and Development in the New Era” forum of the 28th China Golden Rooster & Hundred Flowers Film Festival was held at the Tianyuan Hotel in Xiamen. The forum was hosted by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the China Film Association and the Xiamen Municipal People’s Government, co-hosted by the Cultural and Creative Finance Research Center of the National Institute of Financial Research, Tsinghua University, and organised by Beijing Shangqi Capital Holdings Co., Ltd. and Beijing Tsinghua Holdings Daokou Investment Management Co., Ltd. More than 300 guests and attendees from government departments, well-known Chinese and international companies, investment service institutions and film and television companies gathered under the theme “Financial Innovation and the Future of Chinese Cinema” for in-depth exchanges on “the relationship between film and finance” and “finance supporting the development of the film and television industry”. Leaders attending the forum included Xia Chao, Vice Chairman of the China Literature and Art Critics Association and former Vice Chairman and Secretary of the Secretariat of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles; Zhang Hong, Secretary of the Party Group and Vice Chairman in charge of the China Film Association; La Peikang, Vice Chairman of the China Film Association; Hou Guangming, Director of the Film Education and Industry Development Committee of the China Film Association and former Party Secretary of the Beijing Film Academy; and Rao Shuguang, Director of the Film Art Center of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
As one of the main events of the 28th China Golden Rooster & Hundred Flowers Film Festival, the “Forum on Chinese Film Investment and Development in the New Era” focused on the integration of the film and finance industries. At a time of structural adjustment in China’s economy and change in the global entertainment industry, the forum’s top priority was how to accelerate the industrialisation of Chinese cinema through the integrated governance of film culture, technology and financial innovation, and to contribute Chinese wisdom to finance supporting the future development of Chinese cinema and its continued prosperity.
In his address, La Peikang, Vice Chairman of the China Film Association, said that after average annual growth of 30% over the past ten years, the Chinese film market has entered a new normal this year. Capital has returned to rationality, and quality content and realist subjects keep emerging. Under the new normal, the Chinese film industry needs the strength brought by financial innovation.
In his speech, Xia Chao, Vice Chairman of the China Literature and Art Critics Association and former Vice Chairman and Secretary of the Secretariat of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, said that in the new era, film finance in China calls for responsibility, and the film industry needs to balance economic and social benefits. The new era will surely produce works of its own that are worthy of history and of our forebears.
In his speech, Fan Wenzhong, Party Secretary and Chairman of Beijing Financial Holdings Group, said that the Chinese film industry is in an important process of transformation and reshaping and also at a good moment for innovative development. At the same time, it faces challenges such as a single business model, the lack of a fair and transparent evaluation system, and high capital mobility. In his view, these problems can be addressed in three directions: innovation in content and methods, innovation in production and dissemination technology, and innovation in financial services.
Guan Qingyou, economist and founder of Rushi Capital, said that China’s economic growth has created room for the box office. China’s per capita income is currently one-fifth of Japan’s, and once it reaches the economic level of Japan and South Korea, there is still a great deal of room for box office growth. In the coming era in which content is king, film content needs to be more cross-sector, more vertical and more precise, with continuity of content and IP.
In addition, Tang Xiaobin, Chairman of Beijing Shangqi Capital Holdings Co., Ltd. and Co-Chairman of the Cultural and Creative Finance Research Center of the National Institute of Financial Research, Tsinghua University; Wang Wenhuai, Vice President of Xiamen C&D Corporation Limited; Guo Zewei, Chairman of the Board of Shangdong Holdings; Huang Qunfei, Deputy General Manager of Huaxia Film Distribution Co., Ltd.; Sun Zheyi, President of Sunac Culture Group; Li Jie, head of the film business of Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment, Senior Vice President of Alibaba Pictures and President of Taopiaopiao; and Li Tingwei, Chairman of the China-UK Film Fund and Chairman of the Sino-British Cultural and Creative Group, took part in and spoke at the forum’s roundtable.
Speaking as the host city’s representative, Wang Wenhuai said that Xiamen has taken on many film projects but has not yet entered the core of the industry. From an investment perspective, film platforms deserve attention, and stronger integrity among film producers will benefit the industry. Guo Zewei said that traditional industries are answering the national call to transform and invest in the cultural industry, and he hoped industry regulators would also keep pace with the times. Huang Qunfei said that this year’s National Day holiday box office laid the foundation for the year’s 5% growth. My People, My Country owed its success to a combination of timing, place and people that is hard to replicate commercially. He also said that films with mainstream values should be a key focus for most investors.
Speaking about Sunac’s industrial film facilities, Sun Zheyi said that in the short term Sunac Culture will work on strengthening its team and supporting capabilities, and in the long term it will build a nationwide presence, pursuing its strategy through strategic acquisitions of and investments in companies across different parts of the industry chain. Li Jie said that audiences’ cinema-going habits face challenges in the internet era: the market for users’ effective entertainment is growing, and instant entertainment takes up more of their time. Li Tingwei believes that to build a model of “co-creation, sharing and integration” for film, innovation must be integrated, including innovation in content cooperation and in financial models.
Participants agreed that the prosperity of the film industry depends on strong support from the financial sector. How to use financial instruments soundly to make the current prosperity of the Chinese film market sustained and normal is a question the film and financial sectors need to consider together.
