China Arrests Australian Journalist Cheng Lei on Secrets Charges

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) announced late Monday evening that it has signed a strategic partnership in program development and online video with South Korean public broadcaster KBS.

Rebecca Davis editorChloe Zhao’s awards season frontrunner “Nomadland” has been approved for a limited release in China starting April 23 through the country’s arthouse cinema circuit, according to information published on the government-backed distributor China Film’s website.The date would put its debut just three days ahead of the Academy Awards, where the title is expected to be a top pick.

Chinese blockbusters Hi, Mom and Detective Chinatown 3 both sailed past the $600 million mark during their second weekend in cinemas — an unprecedented feat for two films competing head-to-head in a single market. Heartwarming comedy Hi, Mom, produced by Beijing Culture, has emerged as China's 2021 Lunar New Year champion despite beginning the holiday in distant second behind Wanda Pictures' comedy franchise hit Detective Chinatown 3.

As China's booming Lunar New Year box-office period winds down, Beijing's film regulators are beginning to let Hollywood titles back into the marketplace. Warner Brothers’ live-action/animation hybrid Tom and Jerry has secured a release on Feb.

With presumed Western blockbusters such as Black Widow, No Time to Die, and The Eternals delayed until later this year, the rambunctious Detective Chinatown franchise has leaped into the void in a very, very big way. Few, if any movies have ever raked in so much coin in so little time.

Rebecca Davis editorThe Beijing Culture-backed tear-jerking comedy “Hi, Mom” grossed $134 million this weekend to finally surpass Wanda Film’s record-breaking Chinese New Year holiday frontrunner “Detective Chinatown 3” in overall box office, having led the latter in single-day returns since Monday.It is now only the sixth film to ever have grossed more than RMB400 million ($62 million) in China, a feat achieved by “Detective Chinatown 3,” “Avengers: Endgame” and four other local titles.The

Rebecca Davis editorWarner Brothers’ live action-animation hybrid film “Tom and Jerry” has quietly locked in a Feb. 26 release date in China, which will make it the first foreign film to hit theaters in the wake of the Chinese New Year.The lunar new year public holiday, which this year ran from Feb.

Rebecca Davis editorTony Leung Chiu-Wai and Andy Lau will team up in a new major action movie titled “Goldfinger,” local reports said Friday.The two beloved Hong Kong-born A-listers haven’t worked together since the end of the “Internal Affairs” trilogy 18 years ago.The reunion will be written and directed by Felix Chong, the screenwriter for the “Internal Affairs” series.

Rebecca Davis editorDespite nearly six months of cinema closures due to COVID-19, China actually built nearly 6,000 more new screens in 2020, according to a new report from the country’s film authorities.The data contradicts the disastrous predictions made over the summer about the extent to which the pandemic would devastate the Chinese exhibition sector.China now boasts 75,581 screens nationwide at some 12,700 complexes, having built 5,794 more screens last year, said the National Office for

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAn executive at Chinese tech giant Tencent has been arrested on suspicion of sharing personal data from the WeChat social media app with an official.The executive was named as Zhang Feng, who has in the past been referred to as a company VP.Tencent confirmed the information and said that Zhang’s detention relates to a case of “personal corruption.” The company said that Zhang’s case was not related to its Weixin app or its WeChat international iteration.It

China's multiplexes were mostly silent over the weekend as the country—and its film industry—continued to gear up for the lucrative Lunar New Year holiday. Total ticket sales were just $22.9 million, the lowest of any weekend so far in 2021.

“Land of Big Numbers,” by Te-Ping Chen (Mariner Books)A Chinese tech company recently made headlines for its use of “smart” cushions in office chairs to monitor its employees’ workplace performance.

its ongoing lies and distortion and insisting that their official death toll is underreported by as much as tens of thousands.Called “In The Same Breath,” the HBO film begins hours after a massive New Year’s Eve celebration in Wuhan, China, a city of 11 million and the one-time epicenter of the pandemic.The next day, a slew of robotic news anchors recited a government script, meant to minimize the impending disaster.

straight to your inbox every day for freeOdion Ighalo has penned an emotional Manchester United farewell message as his time at Old Trafford comes to an end.The 31-year-old striker's loan from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua expires at the end of this month. The Nigeria international joined United in January last year on an initial six-month deal that was later extended to 12 months.