China to Ease FDI Threshold in Culture Industry

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Sept. 28 – China’s State Council government said it would lower the investment threshold for its entertainment and cultural industry to allow more private and foreign direct investment in state-owned media groups, reports Caijing.

Beijing wants to develop the industry further by increasing its size and competitiveness by raising the export of culture-related products and services and creating more jobs. This move is also expected to overhaul state-owned media companies. The State Council said that multimedia broadcasting, digital media, web and mobile TV service should be “actively promoted.”

According to Beijing, the culture industry includes publishing, film making, entertainment, animation, online games and multimedia. While the government said that it will inject capital into a proposed culture-industry investment fund and to encourage major state-owned enterprises and financial institutions to invest in the fund, it did not offer any more details.

The government also plans to ease funding through bank lending and fund raising through the stock market. The State Council said that listed culture companies will be encouraged to become bigger through mergers and acquisitions as well as raise funds through public offerings, private placements and corporate bonds.