China is Ready to Coproduce with Ukraine

Today the Chinese market is the fastest growing film industry market in the world. According to the Director of Corporate Finance and leader of the Telecommunications and Technology company Deloitte & Touche USC Alexey Aristov, who introduced his report on the Producers’ workshop at the annual international Film Business Conference on September 9, by 2019 the volume of the Chinese media market will be equal to the volume of the USA market .

The representatives of  China International Film & Media Dmitry (Xuan) Liu and Tony (Yingchun) Fang told about  their vision of the prospects of China's film production industry, peculiarities of co-productions with other countries, as well as about the theatrical releases on the Chinese market. Tony Fang noted that today in China there is a special state program for cultural cooperation with foreign partners called Go abroad, and recalled that Ukraine has already had successful experience in co-production with China with the film Shi Mian Mai Fu. He also reminded of memorandum between Ukraine and China signed in October 2013 according to which both states take a preliminary course of rapprochement in the field of audiovisual cooperation.

In turn, Dmitry Liu advised to pay attention to the fact that China has quotas on foreign releases, and only about fifty foreign films a year can get a theatrical release in China. In addition there is censorship in China, which can also be an obstacle.

However, without censorship, frankly speaking, it is practically impossible in terms of commercial potential for Ukrainian films (as well as even for the big-budget Russian films) for at least another few years to enter the Chinese market. In 2017 the above-mentioned quotes is expected to be cancelled.

However Liu urges Ukrainian producers to cooperate, even without formal agreements between the two countries. Anyway for the joint project it will be much easier to break into the Chinese market, as it happened with the second part of the full-length blockbuster Viy (Journey to China), which in China will be considered as national film because the Chinese company Shina Film Group became its co-producer. 

"Chinese industry is developing very fast and the producers are very interested in cooperation. Despite the lack of signed agreements in cooperation between Ukraine and China, Ukraine needs to create and participate in mutual projects and we can try to make some agreements. Because having the examples of successful projects we can change the legislation of both countries. That often happens. Therefore, we don’t have to wait"- said Liu.

At the same time, he said, the Chinese partners, who are willing to work with the Ukrainians in China may have concerns about visiting Ukraine because of the question of safety of their capital in Ukraine. Therefore, in order to become an attractive and promising partner for the fastest growing film industry in the world, Ukraine needs not only make structural changes in the legislation, but also to work on its image.

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