Sony is to invest over $100m in production of Chinese movies, according to group chief executive Idei Noboyuki.

Idei announced the proposals, according to Reuters, during a visit to Beijing on Monday. "In the next three years, Sony will invest about $100m in the Chinese movie industry," he said. It will produce an average of five films a year.

The corporation has a well developed programme of local productions and through its Hong Kong-based Columbia TriStar Film Production Asia (CTFPA) is the most active Hollywood studio in China.

Headed by Barbara Robinson, CTFPA currently aims to produce four films a year for local. Earlier this year CTFPA broke Chinese box office records with the $4.3m release of Big Shot's Funeral. More recently it saw its Missing Gun appear at the Venice film festival.

Idei said that Sony would also introduce its Playstation 2 games console, a move that may indicate a retreat on the part of video and DVD pirates in China.