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Wanda opens world’s biggest movie studio in ‘China’s answer to Hollywood’

Billionaire Wang Jianlin launches US$8 billion project to turn Chinese city of Qingdao into global film hub

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Wanda Group's Oriental Movie Metropolis covers about 160 hectares in Qingdao, Shandong province. Photo: Reuters

Wang Jianlin, the billionaire boss of China’s Dalian Wanda Group, said on Saturday he would turn the northern port city of Qingdao into a global film production hub as he launched a sprawling studio complex in a ceremony attended by hundreds.

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Covering an area equivalent to more than 200 soccer pitches, the 162-hectare (400-acre) Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis boasts the world’s biggest movie studio and has been touted as China’s answer to Hollywood.

The US$8 billion project, built partly on an artificial island, also includes hotels, a theme park and a yacht club.

Wang, whose group controls US cinema chain AMC Entertainment Holdings and US studio Legendary Entertainment, promised generous subsidies for filmmakers but indicated a focus on China’s domestic film market.

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“We will boost the Chinese movie industry development,” Wang said at the project’s opening ceremony.

“We will also turn Qingdao into a global hub for film.”

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