30th Hong Kong FILMART opens

The 30th Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART) opened on Tuesday, kicking off a four-day bonanza attended by over 790 exhibitors from 38 countries and regions.

This year's event provides a platform for the trading of film and television entertainment content to promote global cultural exchange and cooperation in the industry.

The expo, underway in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, has attracted participants from both established and emerging markets, including major film and television markets such as France, Italy, and the Republic of Korea, as well as ASEAN countries like Cambodia and Malaysia.

It also features numerous exhibitors from emerging markets participating for the first time, demonstrating the potential for cross-regional cooperation in the film and television industry.

The event has partnered with 10 global film promotion organizations to promote more cross-regional cooperation and co-production projects.

As the mainland film and television industry actively expands into overseas markets, film and television exhibitions have gradually become one of the key platforms to help mainland companies to go global.

"First, we are bringing high-quality audiovisual content, including our TV series Swords Into Plowshares and over a dozen other new shows. Second, in terms of ecosystem development and technology-driven innovation, we are forging strategic partnerships with tech giants. We hope to leverage platforms like Hong Kong to accelerate and enhance the transformation and upgrading of our business," said Zhao Yifang, founder and CEO of Huace Group.

EntertainmentPulse, a forum organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, was held alongside FILMART, bringing together industry leaders from around the world to discuss hot topics such as artificial intelligence, video streaming, and project financing.

30th Hong Kong FILMART opens

China on Wednesday issued a guideline outlining arrangements for pilot work to extend rural land contracts by an additional 30 years upon the expiration of the second-round contracts.

The document, jointly issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, comprises 15 specific measures with a mandate to strengthen the protection of farmers' contractual land rights and interests, enhance the management of rural land contracting, and reinforce organization work and leadership, among others.

The document emphasizes the unchanged policies of unwaveringly upholding the collective ownership of rural land and the farmer household land contracting and operating system, ensuring the principal position of farmers and the stability of rural society.

To carry out the rural land contracts extension pilot work effectively, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and other competent authorities have since 2020 guided various provinces in gradually expanding the scope of the pilot program. This year, province-wide trials are expected to be conducted across 29 provincial-level regions.

Under China's household contract responsibility system, all rural land is owned by rural collectives, which allocate contract rights for parcels of farmland to eligible households. The tenure of contract rights was 15 years in the 1980s and renewed by another 30 years for the second-round contracts in the 1990s. The expiration of second-round contracts is expected to enter a peak period from 2026 to 2028.

China issues pilot work guideline for rural land contracts extension