Regulator rolls out 5-year plan for movie sector

China, which currently has the world's most movie screens, plans to raise the total number to 100,000－a 25 percent increase－by 2025, according to a five-year plan released on Tuesday by the China Film Administration.

Serving the long-term goal of turning China into a strong film power by 2035, the administration, the country's top sector regulator, plans to promote 10 domestic blockbusters that are both critically acclaimed and commercially successful each year, according to the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) for the Development of Chinese Films.

The plan calls on domestic filmmakers to maintain stable production, striving for around 50 Chinese movies a year that gross more than 100 million yuan ($15.7 million) each. In the years before the outbreak of COVID-19, which caused cinemas to close and projects to be suspended, China was close to meeting the goal, exemplified by the number of high-grossing domestic movies reaching 46 in 2017 and 42 in 2018.

The plan also calls for deepening the reform of the film distribution and screening mechanism, so that the box office take from domestic films accounts for more than 55 percent of the country's total annual box office gross receipts.

Although moviegoing is a popular form of entertainment in cities, people in rural areas will also benefit from the plan, which suggests that densely populated towns that have a "radiating influence" over nearby areas should speed up cinema construction. Such cinemas should have more than two screening rooms, each with at least 100 seats, and a digital system capable of showing films in a format of 2K resolution or better.

According to the movie website Box Office Mojo, three of the five highest-grossing films in the world this year－The Battle at Lake Changjin, Hi, Mom and Detective Chinatown 3－are all Chinese blockbusters, but their revenue was almost all earned domestically.

Signaling a yearslong effort to support Chinese films to go abroad, the country will continue to expand the overseas distribution net in traditional as well as emerging markets. An exhibition booth will be set up specifically to promote Chinese films at major international film festivals, including those in Cannes and Venice.

Yin Hong, vice-chairman of the China Film Association, said the plan is an objective judgment based on the rapid development of Chinese films over the past 20 years.

He said these goals can be achieved, adding that the most important direction for Chinese cinema's future is to realize "high-quality development", which would be a more challenging mission than reaching the figures regarding box office take and screen numbers.

"Chinese films ranked in the top level should be more thought-provoking, diversified and creative to exert a bigger influence to draw a bigger overseas audience," he added.