After lengthy talks, China and the United States on 18 February finally signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that resolves a five-year WTO dispute regarding film imports and provides limited further access to the mainland market for US films.
According to the MOU, China will allow the import of a further 14 “enhanced format” (such as 3D or IMAX) films per year from the US, in addition to the 20 films under its existing WTO commitment. The revenue share of US enterprises will be increased to 25% of gross box-office receipts per film from the current 13%.
In what it describes as “tug-of-war” negotiations, Jingcheng Tongda and Neal advised the government of China during the whole case. Its team was led by Stephen Peng.
[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”1″ ihc_mb_template=”2″ ]
The case, known as WT/DS363 China-Publications, started in April 2007, when the United States requested consultations with China under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism regarding Chinese film import restrictions.
In December 2009, the Appellate Body set up under the WTO upheld the conclusions of a special panel that Article 30 of China’s Film Regulations and Article 16 of its Film Enterprise Rules were inconsistent with the country’s trading rights commitments in its WTO Accession Protocol and the Accession Working Party Report, essentially because they restricted the right of certain enterprises to import films for theatrical release.
[/ihc-hide-content]
