Deep Impact
WTO will alter the face of China's film industry

Director Chen Guoxing (right) on location for the shooting of Roaring Into the Horizon.

While politicians and business types celebrate the prospect of China joining the World Trade Organization, workers in China's film industry have more reason than most to wonder if this is really a Good Thing.

Hollywood dominates the screens of many countries to such an extent that local productions have virtually ceased to exist. Vibrant national film industries only survive where governments have acted to protect them.

France is the classic example, but French 'protectionism' has been threatened by the WTO, which the United States has tried to use to force its movies into French cinemas. A similar scenario appears to be written into the Sino-US agreement on WTO access signed last November. Film imports are restricted to 10 a year under current policies, but this limit is raised to 40 by the deal with the US, rising to 50 three years after WTO entry.

"The impact will without a doubt be enormous," says Dai Jinhua, Professor of Chinese Literature and Culture at Beijing University.

"As it stands already, Hollywood films have essentially taken over the Chinese market."

Dai says about 100 films were produced in the Chinese mainland in 1995, the year the 10 imports policy began. By 1998, the number of domestic productions had dropped to 37.

"The reality is that the domestic film industry is shrinking into non-existence," she says.

Director Chen Guoxing, who has been at the helm of 10 movies at the Beijing Film Studio, has a more positive attitude.

"China's entry into the WTO is a good thing in that it would introduce fair competition and state-of-the-art ideas about filmmaking," he says.

Chen argues that the government-controlled distribution system holds back the Chinese film industry. Bringing in market mechanisms would allow American studios to establish direct contact with Chinese studios and theaters and share profits.

"The main problem with Chinese film today is that too great a part of the film's revenues is withheld," Chen says.

"The entire Beijing Film Studio is losing money because it cannot retain enough of the film's revenues. This is a result of a planned economy.

"With China's entrance into WTO, although we would only be able to make fewer films, we would be able to foster an environment of fair competition. We now joke maybe in the near future an American film studio will own Beijing Film Studio. We will all be working for Americans."

Dai Jinhua is concerned over what she perceives as a naive attitude on the part of the film industry.

"Practically everyone is exuberant over the prospect of WTO entry," she says. She compares their reaction with the widespread attitude held by many intellectuals in the '80s, that entry into the WTO would more quickly bring about political changes allowing artistic freedom.

"This type of revelry is shocking," Dai says. "I have found taxi drivers much more down to earth and able to look at this issue more realistically.