Wanda Group ventures onto the global stage (3)

Wanda Cultural Industry Group's first official project will be a theme park located in Tongzhou, an eastern suburb of Beijing, which will feature film technology and entertainment. Beijing, defined as the nation's cultural center in the Party meeting, intends to further raise its cultural businesses' share of GDP from the current 12.8 percent. At the founding ceremony for Wanda's cultural group on Dec 1, Lu Wei, Beijing's deputy mayor, stood shoulder to shoulder with Wang.

"The government provides favorable policies for the use of land for cultural projects, so in this sense the Tongzhou project is a very smart move by Wanda," said senior movie producer, Wang Yu. "The company's sharp sensitivity and rich resources in the property industry, plus its extensive capital, will play critical roles in helping it to build a cultural empire."

Another major move Wanda has made to identify itself a significant player in the cultural industry was the acquisition of AMC, the second-largest US theater chain. Insiders believe the move reflects Wanda's deep understanding and rapid response to national policy.

In September, Wanda paid $2.6 billion for AMC Entertainment and its 5,048 screens in North America. It also plans to spend $500 million on theater renovations and technological upgrades.

"It is not likely Wanda will show Chinese films in these theaters any sooner," said Wang Guohua, director of the Cultural Industry Research Institute, affiliated to Beijing University of Technology. "The fact that the company now has powerful outlets in the US, allied to China's rise as a soft power, will help to promote Wanda globally as a cultural industry player."

Wang believes a critical test for Wanda's development of its cultural business will be whether it can produce quality content.

"This is so far the most urgent challenge Wanda has had to face to become one of the world's leading media groups, such as Disney and Warner Brothers," he said. "In the long term, the success of a cultural enterprise is evaluated not only by its revenue, but also its cultural products; works that touch, influence and change the way people look at the world."

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