Written by on Jul 25, 2014. Posted in On Location

China partners with Cannes for planned Film City and festival near Shanghai

China is developing plans for a new Film City in Anji, near Shanghai. Working through a partnership with authorities in Cannes, three Chinese entities want to develop a special zone inspired by the French city’s cultural impact that will provide film services and a dedicated festival.

Cannes is working with the China Film Exchanges and Cooperation Association, the Asia Pacific Exchange and the Cooperation Foundation (APECF) to develop the proposal, reports China Daily.

“This film festival should also maintain strong Chinese features. We hope this programme can push China's film industry to a higher level,” said Xiao Wunan, Executive Vice-Chairman of APECF, in comments to the outlet.

China has begun to take a greater interest in the international production industry, having recently announced its first investments in big-budget Hollywood productions Warcraft and Seventh Son through the state-run China Film Group. The government has also launched a filming incentive package designed to boost its domestic industry in the west of the country, which could also impact international co-productions.

Last month, plans were announced for China Movie World, a studio and film theme park complex that will start development in Shanghai in 2015. Further north, the Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis is underway and was launched last year to great fanfare and with high-level Hollywood support. Pinewood Studios is involved in an official advisory capacity.

Transformers: Age of Extinction (above) filmed partly in Hong Kong and mainland China last year in order to win a firmer hold on the country’s market on release. The film has now become the highest-grossing movie ever to be released in China.

(Transformers image: Michael Bay/Paramount Pictures)