From The Wall Street Journal:
Time Warner Inc. has decided to pull out of the movie-theater business in China, citing frustration over changing government restrictions on foreign investors.
The New York media company’s Warner Bros. International Cinemas division has only four joint-venture cinemas in the country, and the move doesn’t affect Warner’s growing Chinese-language film-production business.
But the decision does reflect growing concern about regulatory hurdles among international media companies trying to build their presence in a market they have viewed as a source of growth. One of the most active Hollywood companies in mainland China’s film industry, Warner had announced plans to build as many as 30 cinemas, after a 2004 policy allowed foreign investors to hold as much as 75% of cinema ventures in select cities, following a 2003 cap of 49%.[Full Text]
