Entertainment, media sector growth seen

China's entertainment and media income will grow 12 percent compounded annually in the next five years to reach US$192.5 billion by 2016, a latest industry report showed.

China last year surpassed Germany and became the world's No. 3 market with US$109 billion income, behind the US and Japan, according to PwC's annual Global Entertainment and Media Outlook released yesterday.

"The booming of China's entertainment and media sector in the next few years will be pushed by China's economic expansion, government support as well as injection of industry funds hoping to cash in on increasing consumer spending," said Pan Zhenyu, a PwC China partner in entertainment and media practice.

PwC's figure includes consumer spending and advertising expenditures.

China's huge Internet population and increasing number of mobile phone users will push up the overall media and entertainment spending, as expenditures related to digital content will contribute 22 percent of overall spending by 2016, up from 14 percent in 2011.

Internet advertising will be the fastest-growing sector with an annual compound growth rate of 32.1 percent, followed by filmed entertainment's 22.1 percent.

PwC's Pan estimated that China will have 60,000 movie screens by 2016, more than six times the figure of last year, among which 8,000 will be new 3D screens.

For the world as a whole, income in the entertainment and media sector will rise only 5.8 percent annually through 2016, the report predicts.