China plans to build $2bn film studio

Last year, China's box office takings went up by 48%

China's government has announced it will build a $2bn (£1.6bn) film studio in another push to expand China's already burgeoning film industry.

The studio, based in Chongqing in the south west of the country, will also include a theme park.

Work is due to start on the project early next year.

China is keen to produce more successful local films. A national quota permits only 34 Hollywood films to be shown each year in the country.

The studio and park will be named after President Xi Jinping's One Belt, One Road program, a multibillion-dollar project to strengthen ties with China's western and southern neighbours.

Great Wall

The park will also feature tourist attractions and officials say they have operating agreements already with several foreign partners

China is already the world's second-largest film market, while China's richest man, Wang Jianlin, owns the AMC cinema chain - the second largest in the US - as well as Legendary Entertainment.

His company, Dalian Wanda, also has a tie-in with Sony Pictures.

Jianlin recently continued his Hollywood shopping spree by snapping up the company that runs the Golden Globes.

Next year Legendary Entertainment, in partnership with Universal, will release Great Wall - starring Hollywood stars Matt Damon and Willem Dafoe alongside Chinese actor Andy Lau and boy band idol Wang Junkai,

It will be the first major Hollywood film aimed at a global audience to be set, filmed and produced in China.