Chinese Theater
CJ CGV, South Korea's multi-screen cinema giant, announced that CGV opened its 50th theater in Foshan, Guangdong Province, China, a decade after it successfully entered the Chinese market. Named Foshan Xingduhuiguangchang and located in Foshan's city center, a place flooded with public offices and financial institutions, the new CGV occupies floors 2 through 4 of the Dongping New Town Mall and is equipped with 10 screens with a capacity of 1,839 seats.
Being the first Korean cinema chain to made a foray into Chinese market, CGV is currently operating 50 theaters with 401 screens in 28 cities in China, including Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan, and Tianjin.
The expansion of the CGV presence in China has yielded rewarding results this year.
According to Entgroup, a Chinese media outlet specializing in theatres, CJ CGV ranked 22nd in 2012 in the box office rankings of China-based theaters, but joined the top 10 in 2014, and in May 2015 it ranked 7th.
In addition, in the second quarter of this year, the company recorded its first quarterly surplus in the country. Its yearly number of viewers amounted to 5.35 million in 2012, but is expected to surpass 20 million this year, as 11.47 million people have already visited CGV theaters to see movies. This year, CGV also seeks to earn some 210 billion won (US$176 million) in the Chinese market, doubling the 115 billion won (US$96.4 million) it earned from 38 theaters last year.
As the CGV is gathering momentum, the company anticipates that this year and next year will be important turning points. CGV plans to increase the number of theaters to 64 this year, and 80 by next year. Then the number will surpass the number of theaters in Korea, which is currently 83.
Seo Jung, CEO of CJ CGV, said, “CGV will move fast toward joining the top five cinema chains in China next year,” adding, “We’re also planning to advance to Indonesia, Myanmar, and Vietnam after China.”