[Igor Antunov]

CHINA'S richest man plans to spend 50 billion yuan (US$8.2 billion) to build the country's version of Hollywood in the northeastern city of Qingdao.

In a glitzy, star-studded red carpet event, Wang Jianlin said his company, Dalian Wanda Group, will build a state-of-the-art film studio complex in a bid to dominate China's rapidly growing movie market.

The Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis's 20 studios will include a permanent underwater studio and a 10,000 square-meter (108,000 square-feet) stage that Wang said would be the world's biggest.

The facility will also include an Imax research and development center, cinemas and China's biggest film and celebrity wax museums.

The first phase is planned to open in June 2016 and it will be fully operational by June 2017. A yacht marina, eight hotels and a theme park will be built to attract tourists.

The company has signed a preliminary deal with a number of global film and television giants and talent agencies to shoot about 30 foreign films a year.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/chinas- ... z2fmsu2FjS

Boosting that soft power.

[benpenguin]

I hope this studio will not churn out rubbish like Japanese/Kumintong war movies. Otherwise it would be such a waste...

[Terrik]

Pretty much what Ben said. The movies better be good. There is so much garbage put out by Chinese studios that even my Chinese friends don't want to watch what they call one of the "four approved storylines“.

[Igor Antunov]

Iron man 3 was ok.

Ultimately expect lots of period epics ( which conform with the above stereotype of 4 approved storylines), superhero blockbusters, comedies and crappy dramas. However with the inclusion of a middle east set I'm hoping for some period epics based in the middle east.

[benpenguin]

Well, I think this time "freedom of speech" really, really matters. If they can open it up and take away most of those retarded restrictions I'm certain they can attract Russians / Middle Eastern / even African investors or audience as well.

Otherwise this will be Bollywood no.2 at best.

[Oxymoron]

Chinese doing something creative in the last 400 years? . Wake me up when something interesting happens over there in hanland.

[Igor Antunov]

China has proven by now that social liberalism is not necessary at all to become economically competitive in any field-collectivist asian societies are geared to be most efficient when centralised.

This is a good read as to why western style neoliberalism is a passing fad as the world economy shifts towards Asian leadership: http://www.smh.com.au/business/china/ch ... 2uhup.html

[jxie]

The studio will first and foremost make movies for the Chinese market, which has been growing on a tear. The box office take of the top domestic movie this year was about $200 million, and you probably haven't even heard of it. The watch of the late 00s was when the Chinese auto market would overtake the American one, and the watch of the late 10s will likely be when the Chinese movie market will overtake the American one.

Striped away the sleeker presentation, what do you call most of the Hollywood movie productions such as Braveheart, Enemy at the Gates, 300, Zero Dark Thirty? One word: junk. The world can use some other new taste. There is a pretty good chance that you will acquire that new taste within the next decade or 2.

Don't get me wrong, most of my all-time favorite movies are still Hollywood movies. I am a movie enthusiast and watch probably 100+ movies a year. Lately some of the Chinese movies are getting very good.

[Beren]

China has proven by now that social liberalism is not necessary at all to become economically competitive in any field-collectivist asian societies are geared to be most efficient when centralised.

Germany and Japan had already proven that alternative models could be competitive, but they disappeared after they lost WW2.

The same is happening in China as happened in Japan and Taiwan after 1945, although China is freer to walk her own path, and her complete Westernization takes more time of course. This whole film studio thing rather proves that China is westernizing at a rapid pace, as modern capitalism keeps thriving in the country.

Or what do you think it means the US won the Cold War?

[Igor Antunov]

Are you confusing capitalism with social neoliberalism? China invented the fiat currency and the foundations for modern capitalism-at a time when it was an absolute monarchy.

You should look to Singapore as the article brings up a good example. Singapore is geared for economic activity of capitalist enterprises, but spit your gum out in public and enjoy a ride to the police station. Do it three times and enjoy jail time. Hilarious thing is, China was never in its history this strict on its citizenry.

They will continue keeping key pillars of the capital market centralised, those that encompass national interests, because that is key to utterly stamping foreign competitors - simply have the capacity for coordination because they certainly don't. Meanwhile on the local level aim to create hundreds of self contained singapores-even down to the urban planning model. This is happening in so many cities.

Watch the film industry flourish (it already is) and watch it erode western influence in east asia with a larger navy, airforce and presence in the pacific. The west is about to be sidelined outside of the atlantic.

[AFAIK]

China is just another version of state capitalism. I don't find it particularly inspiring. The growth rate gets cut in half when you take externalities into account and everyone knows it's inflated to begin with.

[jxie]

As of now there are only very few Chinese films shown internationally. There are a lot more genres of Chinese movies than most people realize.

[Igor Antunov]

The growth rate gets cut in half when you take externalities into account and everyone knows it's inflated to begin with.

Most would argue it is deflated in the global market context because the currency is severely undervalued.

And external activities share of gdp is dwarfed by domestic wealth generation. Something on the order of 6% vs 2%. In fact some of America's largest corporations are now relying on the Chinese market. eg vehicle and telcoms manufacturers. Soon the film industry. Hollywood has dried up already. The east coast film industry is still going strong, but increasingly relying on foreign partnerships.

[Beren]

Are you confusing capitalism with social neoliberalism?

I'm rather confusing modern liberal capitalism with globalisation perhaps, although it's modern liberal capitalist forces that drives globalisation. As China keeps integrating into the global economic system, she must become more and more modern, liberal, and capitalist inevitably. That is because modern liberal capitalism won the Cold War and got the opportunity to set up the frameworks of the new world order, in which China has to find her own place.

Singapore is also a modern liberal capitalist state, basically, as well as Japan and Taiwan are.

[Igor Antunov]

Singapore socially liberal? If you stretch the definition to extremes perhaps. A one party capitalist state with some draconian social policies can be called liberal, its economy certainly is. But I don't see china abandoning control over its economy, it does not need to rely on the financial sector and total openess, it has the luxury of regulating foreign activities because it is not just one city with a port. Instead you will see many Chinese cities with a port go the way of signapore, but the bulk of the economy will stay state owned because the focus is now on developing and exploiting the interior and western regions.

[Beren]

What do you mean by socially liberal? Gay marriage? Liberal democracy?

Singapore might be a special case in many aspects, but it is pretty much the same modern liberal capitalist state as most of the world is. And China will be the same as well, sooner or later. The only way they could avoid it would be if they stopped integrating into the global system. Which is pretty much impossible on the one hand, on the other hand they would collapse pretty soon, if they succeeded.

In my opinion as their economy's size, complexity and advancement grows, they have to liberalize the socio-economic system, because state-control becomes less and less efficient, effective and bearable. They will be the world's biggest market (economy), perhaps governed like the European Union, by Chinese bureaucrats, nominated by the Communist Party, or somehow elected. Or maybe they will be something like Taiwan, which is also a Chinese model of modern liberal capitalism.

[Igor Antunov]

What do you mean by socially liberal? Gay marriage? Liberal democracy?

Singapore might be a special case in many aspects, but it is pretty much the same modern liberal capitalist state as most of the world is. And China will be the same as well, sooner or later. The only way they could avoid it would be if they stopped integrating into the global system. Which is pretty much impossible on the one hand, on the other hand they would collapse pretty soon, if they succeeded.

In my opinion as their economy's size, complexity and advancement grows, they have to liberalize the socio-economic system, because state-control becomes less and less efficient, effective and bearable. They will be the world's biggest market (economy), perhaps governed like the European Union, by Chinese bureaucrats, nominated by the Communist Party, or somehow elected. Or maybe they will be something like Taiwan, which is also a Chinese model of modern liberal capitalism.

Yeah all that degenerate stuff. We'll see. The world neoliberal system is led by the US and EU dominated IMF, which has already been eclipsed by Chinese state investment abroad. So it is in effect competing abroad while offering really non-conductive conditions at home for foreign firms. Thus it has been inching it's economic tendrils towards various regions quite successfully at everybody elses expense (in terms of socioeconomic control) without having to resort to gunbloat diplomacy. In short China is trying to usurp the world financial system and replace it with its own elites and its own brand of unfair business practices, not join them.

Expect a very different world order where the wealth and resource flows head not to the atlantic but to the western pacific.

[Stegerwald]

@ all
China supplies cheap labour to the world, and she has benefited by means of economic growth and a rising wealth. But evidently there remains an enormous culture gap between China and the western world. It is still a Leninist (or Stalinist, or Maoist) dictature. As yet a vivid civil society in imitation of the western model is missing. However, this does not relieve us from the obligation to analyze the Chinese mentality. Watching films may give an impression, albeit perhaps distorted. Until now, I did not succeed in tracing a single Chinese propaganda film, let us say, of the Eisenstein type. Here is a list of the films, that I did see (I try to avoid war films, for they offer little cultural information).

To live: This film starts with the victory of Mao 's army. It describes the Great Leap Forward (attempt to industrialize) and the Cultural revolution. The film maker is critical about these events, which obviously represents the view of the party.
Still life: The story compares the lives of peasants and party officials. The peasants cling to the traditional way of life, whereas the party officials are clearly more wealthy, and try to modernize China. However, both groups are hard workers.
24 city: And here the decline of a state-owned factory is described. Although once the factory thrived, the working conditions were always poor. The narrative radiates the lethargic atmosphere, that is so typical for Leninist states.
China blue: This is a documentary about a modern Chinese textile factory. The film producer is foreign, which naturally distorts the picture of Chinese society. Nevertheless, it is made in an honest way.

All in all, these films do not really allow for feelings of optimism. Perhaps other members have better suggestions?

[The Sabbaticus]

Last thing I read was the Chinese government enforcing stricter control over movie scripts. They're now meant to be 'positive and upbeat'.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/a ... ive-energy

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/s ... -hong-kong

Anyway, not much has come out of China that would appeal to international audiences.

[Igor Antunov]

This 3 year thread has been necromanced back into the present.