For entertainment services including movies, television and games, China is a leading global market and is expanding rapidly, a report by the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) has concluded.
But he noted that US companies face pressure in China to comply with restrictive censorship regimes.
China is a huge export market for American movie studios that depend on China for the profitability of big-budget movies.
he Chinese movie and film industry was valued at $9.3 billion in 2019 (before the Covid-19 pandemic), approaching the level of the US market ($11.4 billion).
In 2020, China’s box office receipts surpassed that of the United States and will likely continue to grow as more new movie theaters are built.
Movies
American films are the leading category of foreign films screened in China and in 2020 they accounted for the top five highest-grossing foreign films.
However, according to one source, the US share of the market has been falling in recent years due to significant market access restrictions, including a share for US films and high-quality, big-budget Chinese films taking up a share. growing market.
The USITC launched an investigation in January 2021 into foreign censorship and policies and practices affecting U.S. businesses, pursuant to Section 332 of the Tariff Act of 1930.
TV and video games
The USITC also indicates that China is the second largest television programming market after the United States, but the United States‘ share of the market is small due to very restrictive market access rules that include quotas for imported content.
China’s online gaming sector is the second largest in the world after the United States, with revenue of $47.4 billion in 2020, compared to $66.9 billion for the US market.
At the same time, according to the USITC, mobile games accounted for 76% of China’s gaming revenue in 2020.
China’s gaming sector was dominated by foreign games until relatively recently, but the United States’ share of China’s gaming market has dwindled over the past five years and is currently small.
Since 2016, Chinese-produced games have dominated its domestic market.
Thus, USITC data shows that Chinese companies accounted for the top 10 mobile gaming companies by revenue in 2019, with no US gaming company holding even 1% of China’s mobile gaming market.
China’s game publishers account for three quarters of domestic game revenue and are also rapidly expanding in the global market with exports growing faster than total revenue.
video streaming
US companies also have very small market shares of media content and services, including streaming video and music, print and broadcast journalism, and publishing in China.
China’s market for subscription streaming services is large, but it still accounts for less than half the size of the US market in total revenue.
The country’s digital music market is growing, but it is much smaller.
Although US subscription streaming companies are world leaders, due to Chinese government market access restrictions, their market share in China is negligible.
None of the four major US video streaming services (Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime and Hulu) are operating in China.
American streaming companies that produce their own content can only generate revenue by licensing content to Chinese partners, and this revenue is relatively small.
Editorial industry
Likewise, China’s media is dominated by domestic providers, and US print and television journalism is severely restricted.
Notably, China is a small market for US publishers’ online book and digital content sales, but the country is a major location for print.
For decades, China has been a key global hub for print publishing.
China has experience in all forms of printing, including four-color printing (used for atlases, children’s books, cookbooks, etc.) and labor-intensive applications for specialized books.
This concentration in global printing capacity strengthens China’s influence in global publishing.
