The evolution of Chinese film policy: how to adapt an instrument for hegemonic rule to commercialisation

The circulation of Chinese film in New Zealand as a potential platform for soft power

“…However, we need to be careful not to simplistically conflate all ‘official’ Chinese films with state ideology. While the state may exert significant influence on film production through ‘a powerful state industry, market regulation, subsidy programmes, licensing systems and government controlled business associations’ (Meyer-Clement, 2017: 428), that state must still negotiate, in part, with market forces, such as ‘the need to compete with the ever-present Hollywood product’ (Rosen, 2012: 199). The balance of these political and commercial elements may thus vary across films (Rosen, 2012: 199), though the former may still be justified by the latter given ‘the impact that continuous political-ideological control .…”

“…. over the media has on taste formation in China’ (Meyer-Clement, 2017: 426). Furthermore, Flew (2016) highlights the problem of taking ‘evidence of reach .…”

“…Chinese film is complexly positioned in relation to these aims. The mainland Chinese film industry has channelled money from the Chinese box office of Hollywood releases and co-productions into increasingly big-budget homegrown films that promote the ‘Chinese Dream’ (Li and Luo, 2017; Meyer-Clement, 2017; Richeri, 2016; Voci and Hui, 2018). This strategy has recently reached a new maturity, evident in a series of Chinese blockbusters that provide visions of a modern China by way of Hollywood influences, such as Wolf Warrior 2 /战狼2 (Wu Jing, 2017), Operation Red Sea /红海行动 (Dante Lam, 2018) and The Wandering Earth /流浪地球 (Frant Gwo, 2019).…”

The Chinese–Korean co-production pact: collaborative encounters and the accelerating expansion of Chinese cinema

“…Yet, despite a wealth of such information, there remains a gulf between official policy rhetoric and the radical transformation that the film industry in the People's Republic of China (hereafter China) is experiencing on a weekly basis. This might be considered unsurprising, given the history of the Chinese Communist Party's wider approach to cultural policy, discussed in detail elsewhere (Keane 2010, Zhang 2010, Vlassis 2015, and Meyer-Clement 2015. However, since the Chinese government's promulgation of The Administration of Sino-Foreign Cooperation in the Production of Films Provisions in 2004, and the extension of the 2003 Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between China and Hong Kong to the film industry in late 2005, collaboration involving both state-run and commercial filmmakers with ties to international colleagues has made the Chinese film industry increasingly competitive on the global stage.…”

The Chinese–Korean co-production pact: collaborative encounters and the accelerating expansion of Chinese cinema

“…Yet, despite a wealth of such information, there remains a gulf between official policy rhetoric and the radical transformation that the film industry in the People's Republic of China (hereafter China) is experiencing on a weekly basis. This might be considered unsurprising, given the history of the Chinese Communist Party's wider approach to cultural policy, discussed in detail elsewhere 40 (Keane 2010, Zhang 2010, Vlassis 2015, and Meyer-Clement 2015 5 and commercial filmmakers with ties to international colleagues has made the Chinese film industry increasingly competitive on the global stage. In particular, firms and practitioners working in the Chinese film industry have embraced policy recommendations arising from the Communist Party's plenum of October 2011 aimed at expanding the quantity, quality, and international appeal of the country's media 10 and cultural contents.…”