Can 'domestic film protection month' help China’s film industry?

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By CGTN’s Dialogue

Moviegoers in China looking for Hollywood blockbusters will have been quite disappointed recently. Only one Hollywood film and two Japanese movies have been released in cinemas as China has stepped into so-called “domestic film protection month”, when few or even no imported movies play on screens.

Depending on a protection policy – even an unwritten one – to boost Chinese films is not the way to go however, political analyst Xu Qinduo told CGTN’s Dialogue.

“Only a couple of Chinese movies are probably… worth the time and the money," he noted.

"A certain level of protection probably is needed in the course of developing your own film industry. But the problem is that you can’t view the protection as a key to success. You cannot rely on the protection.”

Han Hua, a media and communication consultant, argued that China’s film industry is still growing

“That’s why we adopted this unwritten and oral ‘protection month’ for Chinese movies.”

She warned however: “The problem nowadays is that we kind of lack the mechanism between the visible hand from the government and the market-driven industry itself.”

Dialogue with Yang Rui is a 30-minute current affairs talk show on CGTN. It airs daily at 7.30 p.m. BJT (1130GMT), with rebroadcasts at 3.30 a.m. (1930GMT) and 11.30 a.m. (0330GMT).