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Accepted version
Transborder film production between mainland China
and Hong Kong after CEPA: the interplay between
political orientation and market forces
XU ZHANG* & JUNE WANG**
Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie – 2020, DOI:10.1111/tesg.12466,
Vol. 0, No. 0, pp. 1–17.
© 2020 Royal Dutch Geographical Society / Koninklijk Nederlands Aardrijkskundig
ABSTRACT
Co-production of motion pictures entails a variety of transborder mobility and
trans-local production networks, which are further complicated by state intervention
through co-production treaties or arrangements. This paper unravels the process of
Mainland China–Hong Kong film co-production that has been explosive after the
promulgation of ‘Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement’ (CEPA). Drawing on the
information of all Mainland–Hong Kong co-produced films between 1998 and 2017,
we chart the collaborative networks of studios and creative staffs and examine the
commercial and artistic performances of co-produced films to illustrate the impact of
regulatory reform on the evolution of cross-border film co-production. We argue that
CEPA is among the series of national regulatory reforms to enable marketization of
the film industry and, further, to construct an imagined new identity of Chinese
culture at the supranational scale. However, the cultural goals have been given way to
the commercial interests of co-production with the implementation of CEPA policies.
Keywords: co-production; film; network analysis; Hong Kong; China; CEPA
INTRODUCTION
Transnational co-production of motion pictures transcends the boundaries of