China's quota on foreign film imports is likely to be expanded, according to media reports. A five-year-bilateral-agreement between China and US which restricted the number of film imports is coming to an end in mid-February and renegotiation is scheduled to take place this month. Under the current five-year-agreement signed by the two countries in February 2012, the quota for imported films is 34, consisting of 20 regular titles and 14 in the Imax or 3D format.

It is forecast that the share of box-office revenue that US distributors are entitled to receive will increase toward the international average of 40 percent from the current 25 percent. 

China’s box office market had expanded from 2 billion US dollars in 2011 to 6.4 billion US dollars in 2015. That has made the two industries far more co-dependent. 

China is now by far the biggest export market for US films, and Hollywood blockbusters underpin the massive expansion of Chinese multiplexes.

Hollywood studios are now cooperating with Chinese media in a variety of ways, including film financing, marketing and recently local co-productions that bring them a bigger share of ticket revenue in China and lower movie-making costs. 

China's influence in Hollywood is undoubtedly growing. Both sides are eager to see a new rule put in place, giving both China and the US more financial opportunities and reshaping relations between the two superpowers’ film industries.