China's Encounter with Global Hollywood

In recent years, the film industry in the People’s Republic of China has found itself among the top three most prolific in the world with both the nation’s total movie output and gross box-office receipts skyrocketing. Box office revenues rose 48.7% in 2015 to 44 billion yuan ($6.24 billion), and reached 45.3 billion yuan ($ 6.52 billion) in 2016, putting China on track to overtake the US as the world’s largest movie market in a few years. This newfound box-office success, however, has been built on an alternately competitive and collaborative relationship between the ascendant global power of China and the popular culture juggernaut of America since 1994 when the Chinese government introduced a new revenue-sharing system.

 

Discussing her newly published book with latest information, Professor Su examines the intertwining relationships among the Chinese state, global Hollywood, and the Chinese film industry. She analyzes how the Chinese state has consolidated power by negotiating foreign interest in the lucrative Chinese market while advancing its cultural industries and soft power. Su also discusses how mainland Chinese and Hong Kong filmmakers have navigated the often-incompatible requirements of marketization and state censorship. The latest trend of US-China coproductions, and China’s debates over cultural change and artistic freedom illuminate China’s ongoing efforts to build a modern national identity.