Bank of Beijing has announced that it will provide a loan of $87.59m (RMB600m) to state-owned China Film Group for its film production and exhibition businesses.

The loan follows several others that the bank has offered to Chinese film companies as part of its strategy to promote 'cultural and creative industry financing products'.

Bank of Beijing president Yan Xiaoyan and China Film Group president Han Sanping signed the loan agreement on Tuesday, Dec 23. According to Yan, the loan is a credit-based loan in which no guarantee is required. In the first stage, Bank of Beijing will provide $29.2m (RMB200m) for 'cultural and creative projects' including film production and cinema expansion and the introduction of an interest subsidy mechanism.

In May this year, Bank of Beijing offered Huayi Brothers Media Group a loan of $14.6m (RMB100m) on a bundle of TV drama productions. Later in July, the bank again offered $14.6m each to two private entertainment companies: Polybona Group and Enlight Media for film production and distribution.

The bank has also supported single film projects this year, giving a loan of $1.46m (RMB10m) for the post-production and distribution of the martial arts fantasy Painted Skin. The film became a hit in September in the mainland China market, grossing more than $14.6m (RMB100m).

According to Yan, up until the end of November, Bank of Beijing has offered 53 loans to the country's cultural industry and the total reached $132.85m (RMB910m). The amount makes up 90% of all the loans to the cultural industry from the country's financial institutions.

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