China is now one of the most important international markets for cinema, having grown by 40% in 2012 alone and making over £2bn in 2013. Now it has been revealed that it may be over 10% bigger than it was thought to be, as the Chinese government prepares for a crackdown on ticket scams.
Despite the high profile that film festivals and celebrity culture give to cities like Shanghai, most Chinese cinemagoers watch films in small cinemas in rural towns, which are difficult for the industry to police. On Wednesday, the State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, announced that it intends to crack down on film fraud once and for all, requiring distributors themselves to make regular inspections of the cinemas they work with. While those distributors may be worried about losing sales revenue, the government is worried that it may be losing ot on a substantial amount of tax.
There are two main systems of fraud known to exist in Chinese cinema. The first is ticket transfer, where tickets are sold for one film and used for another - this helps cinemas to meet quotas and artificially boosts the revenue going to smaller home grown films. The second, much more widespread and problematic, is doubling. This involves using illegal software to sell two tickets fr every one recorded, with the cinema keeping the profits. The Administration has announced that its national digital ticketing platform will now be upgraded and become mandatory. There may still be problems, however, as some cinemas that don't have the software engage in doubling by writing out tickets by hand.
Chinese filmmakers and academics have argued that what is really needed is education, as many people don't realise that by depriving the industry of revenue they are reducing the number and quality of films that can be made.
