James Cameron: China Should Allow More Movies

James Cameron, director of Titanic and the box-office smash hit Avatar, thinks that China should open its doors and allow more foreign films to be played there, saying it would boot the local cinema industry after the World Trade Organization ruled Beijing was illegally restricting movie and other media imports.

Cameron was in Beijing to promote his latest film and said that because of China’s rapid economic growth, it meant that it no longer needed measures to protect the film industry.

“China’s economy is expanding very, very rapidly. And I think the feeling right now is that perhaps it doesn’t need to be protecting itself quite as much. Chinese filmmakers are very strong… they’re highly respected,” Cameron told The Associated Press.

The Chinese government limits the number of film imports on a revenue-sharing basis to 20 a year to protect local films. This quota limits Hollywood blockbusters to 20 slots yearly.

Western countries say that China’s rise as a trade power has been in part helped by unfair policies that raise sales of Chinese goods abroad while limiting imports into its market.

“I think that be opening the doors in China to other filmmakers, it will raise the entire film industry in China. It well get people more exciting, there will be more seats, more cinemas, more excitement about the cinema-going experience, which will also raise the Chinese filmmakers’ ability to play their films,” Cameron said.