State eyes Shanghai Film Studio listing

HONG KONG - China's leading state film studio prepares for shares on the Shanghai stock exchange offer by the end of the year, said a senior official on Friday in a reference to the rapid development of local film industry. Accounts have finished reviewing the China Film Group Holdings, said Executive Deputy Director Shi Dongming The Associated Press in a telephone interview from company headquarters in Beijing. "All the research and preparation of documents came to an end," says Shi. "We are waiting for the right time to list. We hope it will be this year." He said he did not know how to grow the company. While still small compared to the United States, China's film industry has done good business in recent years, increasing by 44 percent to 6.2 billion Chinese yuan (908 million U.S. dollars) 2009. The country has 600 screens, bringing its total to 4,700, including 1,800 digital and nearly 800 screens 3-D. China Film Group is a major player in this booming industry. Society last year asked the state six years, 11 top-selling films made in China, "said Shi. Their distribution network includes more on-screen half of the country and has dozens of multiplexes across the country. China Film Group is the only major studio to the turn to financial markets to fund its expansion. Huayi Brothers Media Corp. debuts on the market for new small businesses in China in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and Beijing in October, hopes Polybona Film Distribution Co., the New York Stock Exchange register this year or next, says CEO in November. Despite capitalist-style economic reforms, China still restricts foreign access to its domestic stock markets to certain institutional investors.