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Coronavirus China
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Wanda Film to open 50 to 70 new cinemas this year in drive for market share as coronavirus impact subsides

  • Wanda Film plans to add 162 new cinemas in the next three years to grow its market share in mainland China
  • Measures to ease restrictions come as a relief for Wanda after entertainment centres were ordered to shut in January due to the pandemic

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The Grand Theatre at Dalian Wanda Group’s Oriental Movie Metropolis film production hub in Qingdao, China. Wanda is pushing ahead with an expansion plan as the coronavirus comes under control. Photo: Bloomberg
Pearl Liu
Wanda Film Holding, China’s biggest cinema chain operator controlled by billionaire Wang Jianlin, plans to build 50 to 70 new cinemas by the end of this year, shrugging off the crippling effects of the coronavirus pandemic on its business last quarter.
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The expansion plan follows a State Council edict last week that put the economy on the mend, allowing some entertainment centres across the country to reopen after more than 100 days of shutdown. The news is a relief for the 64 billion yuan (US$9 billion) local film industry struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic.

“The Covid-19 outbreak has hit our sector heavily in the short-term, but it is temporary,” executive president Liu Xiaobin said during an investor call on Saturday to discuss the group’s first-quarter earnings. “Expansion and taking a bigger market share is our goal.”

“We are actively preparing for the resumption of our theatres and we believe the reopening day is within sight,” Liu added.

This year’s proposed addition is part of its aim to add 162 new cinemas over the next three years, the company said during the conference call. Last year, Wanda Film added 73 cinemas to its network.

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Wanda Film is looking forward to reopening many of its 656 cinemas in 230 cities across the mainland as China eases some of its draconian lockdown measures. The closures contributed to a 599 million yuan loss for the group last quarter, compared with 401 million yuan in profit a year earlier.

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