According to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, many wage earners cannot watch movies in cinemas because prices of tickets are inflated. Inflated ticket prices, together with poor quality films, have deterred even some regular moviegoers from the cinema, says an article in Wuhan Evening News. Excerpts:

Movie tickets in China are among the highest in the world. In the United States, for example, the average price of a ticket in 2009 was $7.5, which is equivalent to the minimum hourly wages of an ordinary employee.

In India, where the film industry is rather developed, the lowest ticket price is about 7 yuan ($1.1), which helps attract audience from all sections of society and has helped the Indian film industry prosper.

Offering attractive ticket prices is the most important way to bridge the distance between films and the general people. The box office cash registers would not stop rolling if every Chinese saw even one film a year.

Therefore, the film market should follow the motto of "general consumption" and make good quality films at the least cost.

At present, the Chinese film industry seems to be caught in a misunderstanding that filmmakers can make big profits by investing huge amounts to make a film and price their tickets high. This has prompted them to neglect the quality of the movies and the audience's taste. Such an overpowering sellers' market cannot bring prosperity to the film industry.

Besides, more people are buying film tickets at discounts of up to 60 percent because the cinemas cannot sell the high-priced tickets. The film industry, therefore, needs a cultural transformation to forget that "profit matters the most" and has to attract new talents.

(China Daily 01/18/2012 page9)