Japan and China negotiating film treaty

However, a treaty with Japan had been thought of as unlikely by the international production community, given historic political tensions between the countries.

A film screening exchange programme has already been launched to commemorate the resumption of diplomatic ties between China and Japan 45 years ago.

The screening deal was announced at the Tokyo International Film Festival, which began yesterday (25 October) and runs for ten days through to 3 November.

“Your Name (a Japanese animated drama) grossed close to 10bn yen ($88m) in China last year, which came as a big surprise to us regarding the potential of the Chinese market,” said Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, chairman of Japanese distributor Kadokawa, in comments reported by Screen.

“Over the past year the Chinese government has released 14 Japanese titles. This was a sincere gesture on their part and, from our perspective, we want to respond in kind.”

Ten Japanese films are scheduled to be screened in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Kunming in December, and Chinese films will be shown in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya in March next year.

China has a strict annual quota on the number of international films that can be released in Chinese cinemas, but movies with official co-production status are exempt from this restriction.

See KFTV's country guide for more details on filming in China.

Image: FreeImages.com/Gary Tamin