Chinese media company forges partnership with Image Nation Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI - A Chinese media company has formed a $300-million fund with Image Nation Abu Dhabi to co-fund movies and TV productions in Hollywood, the United Arab Emirates and China, Financial Times reported.

The China Intercontinental Communication Center, a documentary co-production company founded in 1994, signed an agreement on Sunday with Image Nation Abu Dhabi, a leading media and entertainment company in the Arabic-speaking world.

The two sides will also invest in the production of a China-focused factual entertainment series that will air across the Middle East and North America and fund a training program for young Emirati and Chinese film and TV executive, said the report.

The deal is another sign of China's increasing interest in filmed entertainment amid several investments that Chinese companies have made in Hollywood.

In January, Dalian Wanda, a Chinese property and media group that already owns a few US entertainment interests, paid $3.5 billion in cash for the control of Legendary Entertainment, which has produced films such as "Godzilla" and "Pacific Rim."

Hejing Culture formed a $200-million venture with Ingenious Media of Britain in June to co-finance a slate of independent films.

IM Global, a Hollywood financier and sales agency, was sold to Tang Media Partners, a company created by Donald Tang and backed by the Chinese Internet group Tencent Holdings Ltd.

WME-IMG, an American talent agency which represents artists across all media, has struck a partnership with venture firm Sequoia Capital China and Tencent in June to expand US sports and entertainment business in China.