Chinese animated blockbuster "Ne Zha 2" captivates Malaysian audiences

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠China's animated blockbuster "Ne Zha 2" was officially released in Malaysia on Thursday, captivating audiences with its record-breaking success in China, positive reviews, and widespread social media acclaim.

Eager moviegoers flocked to witness the cinematic spectacle firsthand, and they were quick to praise the movie's depiction of Chinese culture, stunning visual effect, and well-crafted storyline, expressing enthusiasm for the fresh take on animated storytelling.

"It's fantastic, truly fantastic, and the plot beautifully encapsulates our Chinese culture. It's great," said a moviegoer.

"I never expected a Chinese story to have such a high-quality visual effect and a well-developed narrative," said another moviegoer.

"We used to watch Japanese animations, which are relatively passionate. Now, I think these are more passionate than them," said still another moviegoer.

Tan Cheong Tatt, chief operations officer of TGV Cinemas, highlighted the unprecedented response to "Ne Zha 2".

"The customers have been starting booking ticket on [since] Sunday when we first allowed ticket booking, and the response has been to the extent that we have not seen before. So, we are very encouraged by the response," he said.

Meanwhile, the recent success of two other Chinese films during the Chinese New Year holiday season in late January and early February underscores the rising trend of Chinese cinema in Malaysia.

"We are very pleased to see that [there is] significant improvement in terms of quality of the Chinese movie, Chinese-made movie, in terms of the storyline, in terms of appeal to the customers, and we also find that they appeal to all segments of customers in Malaysia," Tan said.

Chinese-language films in Malaysia are subtitled in English and Malay, broadening their appeal beyond the ethnic Chinese population to attract a diverse audience and contributing to the continuous success of Chinese films at the Malaysian box office.

"Ne Zha 2" has achieved the milestone of grossing 1 billion U.S. dollars in a single market, China, where it was released on Jan. 29. It has become the first non-Hollywood film to exceed 2 billion U.S. dollars in global earnings, including presales, according to data from ticketing platform Maoyan. 

Chinese animated blockbuster "Ne Zha 2" captivates Malaysian audiences

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's official visit to China signals a policy shift towards building a more pragmatic relationship between the two countries, according to a Canadian researcher.

Carney arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to begin an official visit to China through Saturday, which marks the first trip by a Canadian Prime Minister to the country in eight years.

Robert Hanlon, director and principal investigator of Canada and the Asia Pacific Policy Project (CAPPP) at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, told the China Global Television Network (CGTN) that Carney's visit indicates Canada is recalibrating its strategic perception of China, which could cement the foundation for the country's economic diversification efforts and boost the development of bilateral cooperation.

"I think it's a clear message that he has moved Canada's strategy to a much more pragmatic, interest-based, -focused relationship with our trading partners, moving away from values-based narratives that we might have heard on previous governments. Canada has spoken about moving from what the Prime Minister's Office is calling "from reliance to resilience", and that means diversifying our economies and our trade everywhere in the world. And so China being our second largest trading partner, it makes perfect sense for our PM to head to Beijing," he said.

The scholar also noted the huge cooperation potential between the two sides in economic and trade fields, citing Canada's efforts to step up shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the planned construction of an oil pipeline in Alberta which aims to increase export access to Asian markets. "Canada and China both share tremendous economic opportunities together and so finding ways to enhance our exports. Canada specifically looking to build out its LNG and oil, kind of export market. We know Canada is a major producer of critical minerals and China is a buyer. And so there's a lot of synergy between that kind of those kind of markets," he said.

Canadian PM's visit to China paves way for more pragmatic trade ties: scholar