Film co-production treaty for UK and China

BFI facilitates UK China film co-production treatyThe ink is drying on a landmark film co-production treaty agreed upon between the UK and China.

The deal, which was signed on Wednesday 23 April, allows qualifying co-productions to access national benefits including sources of finance and easier routes to audiences.

The treaty was negotiated for the UK by the British Film Institute (BFI) and will give Chinese-led productions access to the Film Tax Relief and the BFI Film Fund.

In addition, eligible co-productions will not be subject to China's quota on foreign films, which only permits a limited number (20 regular features and a further 14 Imax or 3D productions) of non-domestic titles to be shown in Chinese cinemas each year.

The films under the agreement will be able to access the second highest box office audience in the world, worth US$2.7bn (approx. £1.6bn) and forecast to double by 2017.

The UK's Culture Minister Ed Vaizey, who signed the deal, also put his name to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the same day between the Chinese CCTV and the UK's Producers Alliance for Cinema and TV(Pact). More on this MoU can be found here.

Commenting on the film treaty, the BFI's CEO Amanda Nevill said: "The co-production treaty with China, which has the largest growing film industry in the world, is hugely significant for UK film as it will open the door for our filmmakers to collaborate and contribute to each other's success.

"An appreciation of each other's filmmaking culture is the foundation for commercial success and it is fantastic that through the treaty and the landmark events that we have set up here in China and which will continue in the UK throughout 2014, that we are starting to build an even closer collaborative relationship between our two industries to enable them to flourish."