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Washington - Cheering as loudly as any movie audience, Hollywood
and the Obama administration on Saturday hailed China's agreement to
reduce barriers that have kept US-made films out of the booming
Chinese market.
Vice President Joe Biden called it a "breakthrough,"
and said the accord will "make it easier than ever before for US
studios and independent filmmakers to reach the fast-growing Chinese
audience." He added that it will support "thousands of American jobs in
and around the film industry."
The agreement was announced Friday during a California visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, with Biden serving as host.
Gaining entrance to China's movie market has long been
atop Hollywood's wish list, and the industry's chief lobby group, the
Motion Picture Association of America, said the "landmark" deal will
significantly boost U.S. exports to China overall.
It's also a rare bright spot in a trade relationship
that's been a major battleground. The administration has repeatedly
pressed Beijing to be more open to US exports - especially by letting
China's currency rise - and do more to prevent piracy of movies and
other intellectual property.
US officials first complained to the World Trade
Organization in 2007 about film import restrictions, and the WTO ruled
in Washington's favor two years later.
Under the accord, U.S. filmmakers will be given new
opportunities to distribute their films outside China's state-run movie
monopoly, will have better commercial terms for 3-D and other
large-format films, and will reap a bigger share of the profit for films
that are distributed by Chinese companies.
The market in question has been growing rapidly. Box office receipts last year topped $2 billion, US officials said.
Chris Dodd, the association's CEO, who visited Shanghai
last June to press Hollywood's case, said Friday's agreement "will
return a much better share of the box office revenues to U.S studios,
revising a two-decade-old formula that kept those revenues woefully
under normal commercial terms." He estimated that Chinese audiences
would see 50 percent more US films.
Disney CEO Robert Iger added that the agreement is a "significant opportunity" in the world's most populous nation.