Editor’s Note: Over the past 14 years, the Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) has constantly focused on going global and bringing in. When talking about Chinese film market’s policies on foreign film introduction in Cannes, the remarks by Mao Yu, Executive Deputy Director of the China Film Administration, were very encouraging. At today’s Sub-Forum on High-quality Development of the Film Industry, his speech could also let us see the future prospects of Chinese film industry, which will become increasingly stronger and innovative.

Dear leaders, distinguished guests, comrades and friends, 

Good morning! I’m so glad to meet you again at the film sub-forum of the Forum on Building up China’s Cultural Strength, and under the theme of the high-quality of the film industry, the event will discuss the reform, promote the development, and look into the future. On behalf of the China Film Administration of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, I sincerely welcome all of you. I wish to express my gratitude to the speakers who have taken the time to attend the forum. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Bauhinia Culture Group and the China Film Archive, the co-organizer of the forum, the Publicity Department of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and the Publicity Department of the CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee, the organizer, and Shenzhen Media Group (SZMG), the execution unit, for their strong support. I also want to thank our media friends.

Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that China must follow the high-quality development philosophy in the new era. In October 2023, the CPC Central Committee hosted a national meeting on the work of public communication and culture. It officially put forward and systematically interpreted the Xi Jinping Thought on Culture, held high the cultural banner of the Party, and also provided a powerful ideological weapon and scientific action guide for the high-quality development of the film industry. We must study, think, practice and comprehend the Xi Jinping Thought on Culture more consciously and thoroughly, and practically transform it into effective measures and vivid practices for the high-quality development of the film industry. Since last year, the film industry has worked together and forged ahead, promoting the film market to show strong momentum, with the box office recovering to 85% of that in 2019, and the number of viewers to 75%. Although China leads the world in the recovery of the film market, from the perspective of high-quality development, we are still facing many challenges and difficulties to realize higher goals. Today, we host the forum in Shenzhen, a pioneering city of the reform and opening-up, on the eve of the opening of the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, which is very timely and of great significance. I hope that the guests and friends present at the event will give advice and suggestions from their own perspectives, and seek common development. Now, I will share some thoughts with you. 

Firstly, we should respect the laws of film art to promote the prosperity of film creation. To achieve the high-quality development and show the vitality, competitiveness and influence of the film industry, the key is to the constant creation of excellent films that are loved by the audience. Making a good film requires a relaxing, harmonious, inclusive and active creative environment. It also requires us to respect the laws of film art and develop artistic democracy, and fully respect creators’ personalities and aesthetics, thus better stimulating the vitality of innovation and creativity. On the premise of abiding by the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Promotion of the Film Industry, we should strive to explore and innovate in terms of subject, type, content and style, and deeply understand the meaning of the main theme of the times. The main theme and positive energy refer to conveying truth, goodness and beauty and promoting mainstream values, regardless of subject and type, which should be encouraged and advocated during creation. We should fight against the stubborn problems of formulism and conceptualization in the process of film creation. We must resolutely put an end to the creation for the purpose of winning awards and the competition for awards because of certain subjects. Cinema is an art of emotions. The success of a film must present the living stage of individual lives, convey core values through tortuous roads, fierce conflicts and touching emotions, and resonate with the audience. The richness of life makes an excellent film. To respect the laws of film art, we should pursue the excellent realistic tradition of Chinese cinema. Filmmakers should be concerned about the reality, the age and the people, tell about the joys and sorrows of life, and soothe the hearts of the audience with wonderful stories, so as to arouse the audience's thinking about life, society and the world.

Secondly, we should respect the laws of the film industry to improve the modern film market system and industrial system. The market-oriented reform of Chinese cinema began in 1993, while the industrialization reform was launched in 2003. In this process, we removed the institutional obstacles of the planned economy through the reform of cinema chain system, and established a market pattern featuring unified openness and orderly competition across the country. By loosening market access, we broke all kinds of market barriers, opened film shooting, distribution and screening to the whole society, and established an industrial pattern adapted to market development. Through these two reforms, the Chinese film industry initially got out of the difficult situation and came to life. Subsequently, a new digital film pattern was established through institutional innovation, which was driven by technological innovation. By introducing the world's excellent films, especially introducing Hollywood films under a revenue-sharing system, Chinese cinema achieved open competition and grew stronger. We should say that the reform and opening-up is a key move and valuable experience for the development of Chinese film industry.

Today, with the rapid development of Chinese cinema, there are still many new contradictions and problems to be resolved through reforms. More importantly, many of our reform policies were designed 20 years ago to respond to the shortage of resources and weakness of enterprises, adhere to cultural diversity and protect domestic films. Currently, the film situation has shifted from the problem of survival to that of high-quality development, but how should our policies be adjusted and how should our reforms keep pace with the times? 

Therefore, the high-quality development of films requires us to better respect the laws of the film industry and focus on promoting the development of the film industry. As the Chinese film industry is still at the initial stage of development, we can't be considered as a film power even though the box office reaches 100 billion yuan and more. For instance, our film companies are relatively weak. Compared with Disney whose market value once exceeded 350 billion US dollars and Netflix worth 280 billion US dollars, we are still primary students on the capital market. The high-quality development of films requires high-quality enterprises with complete industrial chains, and requires us to further advance the market-oriented, industrial and digital reforms to narrow the gap. Reform is always a must. If we’re satisfied with the current market situation, the truly fair industrial system cannot be realized. The “four unifications” of cinema chains will further evolve into “four sames” -- “same contract, same release time, same revenue-sharing ratio and same lowest ticket price”. The extensive operation mode cannot be transformed into a refined distribution and projection mode overnight. The negative list for foreign investment is always a guarantee to maintain the status quo. The real-time allocation of box office to all parties through computer ticketing systems will always be an empty talk. If the enthusiasm of releasing imported films cannot be aroused, the exchange of films will not be smooth. The entry and exit of funds for film co-productions will always be a pain point. All these difficulties can be addressed by the determination and courage of the entire film industry.

First, we must carefully implement the proposals of "encouraging separate distribution, multi-round distribution, regional distribution, differentiated distribution and other innovative services, and promoting the development of people's theaters, art theaters and other featured theaters” mentioned in the National Film Work Conference and the 14th Five-Year Plan for Film Development. Differentiated distribution is an important means of addressing the equal distribution of the market, the lack of vitality and content homogenization of cinemas. We certainly hope that more films can break through circles and be released in all theaters across the country. However, we also know that low and medium-budget films are the base part of the pyramid-shaped market with rational layout, which gathers most of the potential resources in the industry, and directly influences talent cultivation and reserves in the future. Every young creator needs time to grow stronger, and every small company can become bigger through the constant accumulation of experience. If they can't get respect, their films will always experience a one-day trip, and lay on a cold hard drive without being noticed by anyone. If the market is passively and blindly longing and waiting for a dark horse in the box office, what is the future of the industry? What's more, the Chinese film market is huge, and 1.4 billion viewers are all flesh-and-blood individuals with emotions, who have different needs when appreciating and consuming film culture. The people-centered work should fully consider the needs and aesthetics of different viewers, which are also the objective requirements of our separate and differentiated distribution.

Therefore, we hope that each film can be released and screened in the most appropriate channel and time based on positioning, accurately find the target market and audience, and formulate accurate and effective market strategies, rather than simply and blindly following the so-called prime season, and withdrawing from cinemas if the box office is not satisfactory. Besides, we also hope that all theaters can solve the problem of content homogeneity, and work hard to form brand images and develop their own user loyalty.

Second, in order to deepen the reform of film distribution and projection mechanisms, the requirements of the planning should be implemented -- “Support the merger and restructuring of theater companies, encourage asset-linked theater chains to dominate the market, and reject theater chains that do not meet the current access conditions, so as to significantly increase industrial concentration”. The strength of theater chains is the basis for the high-quality development of the film industry, as well as the premise of a standardized and orderly market. Theater chains should continue to optimize the management system, further improve the ability of market research and film organization, and obtain more film sources and exclusive screening opportunities. They should further improve their operation and management capabilities, and promote the shaping of a competition mechanism in the film market through mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and other ways, form a more reasonable proportion of box office distribution, become strong, standardized and orderly, and create a dynamic market.

Third, the film industry should draw closer to capital. A market with unified openness, orderly competition, integrity & standardization and vitality must be one favored by capital. A market that is only invested by the industry's own funds must be one with no future. The high-quality development of cinema cannot be realized without financial support. Hollywood is so strong because it receives financial support from Wall Street. Capital is the biggest advantage of American films. It is with the support of finance, its blockbuster strategy of "large investment, high-budget production, and mega-marketing" is likely to be invincible across the globe. Additionally, in order to maintain the leadership of the global creative industry and bring continuous creativity, the world's major film powers are introducing investment return policies. For example, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many states in the United States have all issued cost refund policies to attract films from all over the world to be shot locally. To shift from a big film producer to a film power, China must create a more open, fair and lawful investment environment, attracting capital to participate in the building of a film power. We sincerely hope that more financial and insurance companies will step into the film industry, and that local governments will formulate more targeted incentive policies to alleviate the problem of insufficient investment in films.

Fourth, we should actively embrace new opportunities of AI. The advent of the age of artificial intelligence will vigorously promote the application of films in content creation, post-production, virtual shooting, market analysis and optimization, automated management and other aspects, while technology will once again make the film industry even more powerful. We do not need to worry about its ever-accelerating changes, as technology is merely regarded as a means. Filmmakers should learn to become a “tool user” by improving aesthetics, imagination and creativity. To achieve the high-quality development of cinema, we need to actively embrace new film technology, create a more scientific and reasonable filmmaking process with smarter and more efficient new filmmaking tools, and facilitate the optimization and upgrading of the film industry system.

Fifth, China should actively integrate into the global film market. To obtain the high-quality development of the film industry, we should earnestly learn from the excellent literary and artistic achievements created by people from all over the world with a broader vision, a more open mind and a more confident attitude, combine Chinese and western cultures in the past and present, and achieve the prosperity of Chinese cinema in an open vibe. On one hand, through learning and exchanges, the Chinese film industry should carry out the innovation of systems and mechanisms, strengthen co-production cooperation between Chinese and foreign films, further help domestic films improve international creation and production standards, and support more domestic films to go global. On the other hand, we should investigate, adjust and reform the previous defensive policy on imported films, mobilize the enthusiasm of all parties, introduce a wide range of good films reflecting the outstanding achievements of world civilizations, enrich the supply of the film market, meet the diversified movie-watching needs, and let films become a bridge of cultural exchanges and mutual learning as well as a model of pragmatic cooperation and win-win results between China and foreign countries.

Thirdly, we should respect the laws of film management to unite industrial forces. To achieve the high-quality development of films, the film administration of all levels should continuously improve the management capabilities and expertise, and loosen or tighten the management in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Promotion of the Film Industry, integrating management into services. With the love and passion for cinema, the film administration should help each film enter the market safely and create social and economic benefits. The high-quality development of cinema should give full play to the role of film industry associations. The China Film Producers’ Association and the China Film Distribution & Exhibition Association, two associations with the largest number of market players, should establish a closer relationship with producers and distribution & projection subjects, and coordinate the interests between related subjects. Besides, they should lead members to establish industry conventions while abiding by laws and regulations, strengthen industry self-discipline, and further engage in film distribution, multi-channel sales, market order standardization, copyright protection, overseas market expansion and other tasks. I also hope that film companies and practitioners can form a close community of shared interests and development, actively participate in and support the work of film industry associations, and jointly explore a development path suitable for the Chinese film industry.

In the end, I hope that all of you can give advice and suggestions and share views on the platform of the Sub-Forum on High-quality Development of the Film Industry, jointly contributing wisdom and strength to the high-quality development of the film industry and the building of a film power. I wish the forum a complete success!