Words by Rebecca Whitlocke | Access Riviera
Continuing Superyachts China vision to connect China to the English-speaking market, today we’re reviewing the ‘2017 China-UK Film and TV Conference’ that was successfully held on Tuesday 6th June in London.
China and UK government representatives and major film and TV industry company directors attended the event to deliver speeches on how China and UK can build partnerships to promote cultural exchange.
With over 6,000 registered radio broadcasting and television companies in Beijing and 123 registered information networks, Beijing is the epicentre of media creation, production and distribution in China.
2017 China-UK Film and TV Conference
The conference served as a co-production platform for Beijing production companies to promote and share knowledge on Chinese media. The aim was to offer further cooperation on co-productions, development and protection of intellectual property, and talent sourcing between China and UK film and TV industries.
Amongst 200 guests at the London event were:
Liu Xiaoming, the Ambassador of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the U.K
Li Wei, Director of the Party Committee of Beijing Municipal People’s Congress
Pan Xinchun, Chinese Consulate-General in Edinburgh
Michael Charlton, Managing Director & Chief Investment Officer at Department of International Trade (DIT)
Frank Ross, Lord Provost of Edinburgh
Helen Moonie, Lord Provost of South Ayrshire
‘China-UK relationship is now at its best time in history, as evidenced by the ever-vibrant cooperation in all fields. The creative industries, the film and TV industry in particular, are fast becoming a new growth point in China-UK cooperation. This China-UK Film and TV Conference is one of the best examples.’ – Ambassador Liu
To further explore the possibilities of cooperation, Ambassador Liu suggested firstly, to seize the historic opportunities in the ‘Golden Era’ and the Belt and Road Initiative. Secondly, build new platforms and improve the mechanisms of cooperation. Thirdly, Chinese and UK film and TV cooperation should align strengths to achieve win-win results.

Conference programme
The conference opened with a screening of the best 22 works of Chinese TV series, films, and documentaries selected by Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press, Radio, Film and Television. These award winning Chinese films, TV dramas, documentaries and animations that are participating in this year’s exhibition will be broadcasted in the UK on Propeller TV (Sky 189) over the next three months.
The first part of the conference was hosted in Edinburgh, where production companies including Beijing Jetsen Technology, Beijing Hairun Pictures Co. Ltd, Perfect World Pictures, Ciwen Media Co. Ltd, Xiron Books Company Ltd, HS Entertainment Group and Wink Media gave presentations and conducted discussions with Scottish film and TV industry companies, alongside key speeches from major government representatives.
The London conference concluded the event with roundtable discussions on China-UK co-productions. Representatives had open discussions on film and TV co-productions, protection of intellectual property and creative film and TV talents. The roundtable event was opened by the UK release of Perfect Pictures’ film Let’s Get Married followed by several high-rank speeches by officials.
China-UK Film and TV Conference Hosts
This year’s Conference was hosted by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television and co-organized by XiKing Culture and Media (Beijing) Co, Ltd and Propeller TV, continuing on the success of the previous edition in 2015.
Michael Charlton added, ‘The combination of storytelling capability, creative talent and technological excellence makes the UK a great place to make productions, for both film and TV, and to do business. I hope this visit will help to develop new projects and build on the success I have already described today.’
2017 promises to be the biggest and most exciting year yet for Chinese film and TV, underlining the conference’s growing reputation as a key event in UK’s cultural calendar.
About Propeller TV
Dedicated to ‘bringing the world to China, and China to the world’.
Propeller TV is a digital broadcast company on Sky 189 delivering engaging Chinese related content on culture, lifestyle, entertainment and knowledge to the UK-English speaking audience.
Founded in 2006, after being taken over by Xiking Culture and Media Group in 2009, PTV’s vision is to become the top destination media owner and platform for English language speakers who want to learn, share and experience what China has to offer.