Barco and China Film Group announced the formation of CFG Barco (Beijing) Electronics Co. Ltd. The new company is a joint venture among two Barco subsidiaries – Barco Visual (Beijing) Electronics Company Limited and Barco China (Holdings) Limited Company – and China Film Equipment Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of China Film Group.

This joint venture illustrates Barco’s and China Film Group’s determination to develop China’s digital cinema market by strengthening the localized development and production of digital cinema products and services in China. The newly-founded company will help China achieve its ambitious 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), which is based on the forecast that the culture industry will enter a period of rapid development in the next five years and contribute 5% to the country’s GDP.

Through its customer service facilities, sales, local R&D, and production, the new company will maintain the Barco brand and ensure Barco’s world-class quality and service. Leveraging the experience and influence of China Film Equipment Co, the new company will also build more effective communication channels and a more intimate relationship with customers. By end of July 2011, more than 4,600 Barco digital cinema projectors have been installed in Greater China (covering 65% of the Chinese market), which confirms Barco’s global market leadership with an installation base of more than 20,000 projectors worldwide. The Beijing factory is already achieving a monthly production capacity of 500 projectors. Last year, Barco set up a digital projector research center in Beijing, becoming the first foreign projector manufacturer to establish a research center in China.

Mr. Xiaoli Han, General Manager of China Film Group and China Film Co, said: “We’re following China’s 12th Five-Year Plan – as a company in the culture industry, we should contribute to China’s digital cinema development. Through this new collaboration, we hope that Barco will introduce more and more cutting-edge projection technology into China and further localize R&D and production in China. We will continue our efforts in promoting and applying digital technology in China’s film industry.” “China’s digital cinema market is developing rapidly,” Wim Buyens, Senior Vice President Barco and General Manager Entertainment Division, commented. “We are proud of and confident in our investment and collaboration with China Film Group, and we are honored to work with China’s best film equipment trading company. This is another major milestone following our establishment of the research center in Beijing. The new joint venture will combine Barco’s technology and China Film Group’s wide expertise in the China digital cinema market. This roll-out of digital projector technology to many more cinemas will enable China’s film industry to reach and benefit a larger audience of movie goers.”