China’s richest man and chairman of Chinese company Dalian Wanda, Wang Jianlin, is launching an US$8.2bn (£5.1bn, €6bn) plan to expand the Chinese movie industry, which includes the opening of a mega-complex in the eastern port city of Qingdao.
The project has been supported by some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, who attended the project’s launch in China last month. Those in attendance included the likes Leonardo DiCaprio, Harvey Weinstein and many others from the elite Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The move comes as Wanda looks to increase its cultural and commercial footprint globally, having already bought cinema chain AMC for US$2.6bn (£1.6bn, €1.9bn).
Wanda’s Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis complex, which is planned for opening in 2017, is to feature a 10,000sq m (107,639 sq ft) film studio, 19 smaller film outlets and a theme park to rival the Universal Studios franchise.
The project is also thought to include a car-show centre, an area dedicated to luxury yachts, as well as an international hospital, high-end hotels and restaurants.
The company has claimed that it has signed agreements with film studios and talent agencies to create around 30 foreign productions at the site each year, as well as creating around 100 domestic titles.
Wang has also stated that Wanda has agreed a deal with the Academy, which will support the formation of an annual Qingdao International Film Festival every September starting from 2016, with the event currently pending government approval.
"China's economy is growing fast but it's still only half the U.S. economy, but in less than 10 years it will catch up. The Chinese movie industry cannot compete with Hollywood and there is a big gap, but that also means the potential is great. The Chinese culture industry is only two per cent of our economy, but in America it's 20 per cent of the economy," said Wang.
"My target is for Wanda to be one of the world's biggest companies in the culture industry; this is why I haven't retired yet. Whether we can attract foreign production companies to come here depends on the market. They will definitely come as long as production costs are low."
The Wanda group is considered as an important pillar in the commercial Chinese economy, with operations including 72 Wanda commercial plazas, 38 five-star hotels, more than 6,000 cinema screens, 62 department stores and 68 karaoke outlets.
Wanda recently suggested that it has around US$5bn (£3.1bn, €3.7bn) every year to spend on acquiring foreign assets, with billion-dollar development projects already underway in both London and New York.
