The Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) which was signed onJune 29 would offer new opportunity for the Hong Kong film industry, Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology Francis Ho said here Thursday.

During a meeting of the Film Services Advisory Committee (FSAC),Ho said he hopes Hong Kong's film industry will seize this huge market opportunity in the Chinese mainland and bring new vitality to Hong Kong's economy.

Members of the FSAC also welcomed the CEPA, saying that it would benefit both the industry and the local economy.

According to CEPA, Chinese language motion pictures produced byHong Kong companies can be imported for distribution in the Chinese mainland, not being subject to the quota of 20 foreign films per year as inscribed in China's World Trade Organization commitments. Motion pictures co-produced with the Chinese mainlandwill be treated as mainland movies for distribution in the mainland.

For motion pictures produced jointly by Hong Kong and the mainland, the ceiling on the proportion of Hong Kong personnel is relaxed, with at least one-third of the leading artists required to be from the mainland. The restriction that the story of the motion picture has to take place in the mainland is removed, though the plots or leading characters must be related to the mainland.

Editor: James