Chinese companies and their foreign counterparts are eyeing cooperation opportunities to tap into the country's booming film market, executives at the Chengdu Fortune Forum said on Thursday.

During a morning session, Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, told delegates he was keen to realize his dream of bringing the finest technology and artists to China to create world-class animation.

"The country will be able to make world-class animation within a handful of years," said the head of the world's largest animation maker, which established a joint venture, Oriental DreamWorks, in Shanghai last year.

"We have set the goal 'create in China, for China'," he said, adding that he was confident Oriental DreamWorks will be standing on its own in a few years.

"As the second-largest film market in the world, China's box office will reach 22 billion yuan ($3.6 billion) this year, and it will overtake the United States to become number one in the world within five year's time," added Katzenberg.

He said in film industry terms, at least, "the Chinese market is not emerging anymore - it has already arrived".

Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, agreed with Katzenberg, and estimated the value of China's film market will be twice as big as the US within a decade.

Dalian Wanda spent $2.6 billion last year on AMC Theatres, the second-largest cinema chain in the US.

Wang said there is a huge appetite for film in China, especially for domestic movies.

Figures show that in the first five months of this year, box-office receipts for home-grown movies have already exceeded those of imported movies, and several Chinese films have attracted sales in excess of 1 billion yuan.

Against that backdrop, "we shouldn't be afraid of Hollywood movies in the future, even if the authorities lift the current restriction for imported movies", said Wang.

To tap into this growing market, Wanda is currently negotiating cooperation opportunities with "some of the top five filmmakers in the US", he said.

Wanda did have talks with DreamWorks on a China joint venture, but DreamWorks finally partnered with a company in Shanghai.

"But future cooperation between us is still possible, and we have already reached cooperative intention with DreamWorks," Wang said.

AMC reported $60 million profits in 2012, and Wang said the figure would rise significantly this year.

Katzenberg and Wang agreed that any successful expansion into a new market depends on respect for local conditions and trust in local employees.

"Investment in any company requires attaching great importance to its employees, and any company with an all-foreign management team will definitely fail," added Wang.

Similarly, products without consideration of local customer needs will not last long.

An example cited was the film Iron Man 3.

In the version shown in China, additional plots were clumsily added starring Chinese actors, but they were deleted in versions of the film shown elsewhere - a move which attracted huge criticism among Chinese netizens.

"If imported movies are all as disrespectful as Iron Man 3, they will enjoy nothing but failure," Wang said.

In comparison, a good example was the animated film Kung Fu Panda 2, which carefully incorporated Chinese elements in its plot, such as the local food and architecture of Chengdu.

Katzenberg said: "We have had the goal from the very beginning, that our movies will not only be translated, but adapted," adding that the DreamWorks operation in China likes to create authentic films to suite local cultures.

Li Dongsheng, chairman of TCL Group, said his company - a Chinese consumer electronics producer - is also considering working with DreamWorks on video and graphics.

He said TCL has a number of cooperation deals in the pipeline with global companies, which are likely to boost its international income from 38 percent of the total to more than half in the future.

Picking up on the overseas business angle, Andy Serwer, managing editor of Fortune Magazine, added: "There isn't really one universal rule for companies to succeed in overseas markets.

"But for the best companies, it is never just one-way traffic. Look at Starbucks, for example, which developed green tea products for the China market, and then introduced those to the US market, and found they were popular there, too.

"Being flexible and open-minded, adapting and learning are key elements for companies entering emerging markets - you won't succeed without these qualities," Serwer added.

weitian@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 06/07/2013 page19)