International production companies appear to be more interested in Chinese locations as a way of accessing its lucrative domestic market, rather than being driven by an interest in exotic filming locations.
China is not thought of as being a particularly film-friendly location for international shoots, but co-production status can make local shoots easier and, crucially, help ease the route into Chinese cinemas.
Historical fantasy The Great Wall is the largest US-China co-production to date and was filmed in China with a cast led by Matt Damon and a host of Chinese stars.
Pacific Rim: Uprising will be filmed at Wanda Studios in Qingdao, taking advantage of the company's new incentive in the process. Any international films that shoot on the premises will be provided with a 40% tax rebate.
Former marketing executive Al Ovadia has set up Los Angeles-Beijing Studios, which has its base in California but is designed to facilitate more US-China co-productions.
We are building a world-class film and television studio and we are creating extremely generous production incentives which together will allow Wanda Studios Qingdao to successfully compete on a global scale.
Nancy Romano, CEO of Wanda Studios Qingdao
The climate varies from a bitter -20C in north China's winter - it's common to see sand dunes covered in snow - to summer extremes of 40C in the south.
In central China the Yangtze River valley has long and humid summers with high temperatures and lots of rain from April to October.
Wuhan, Chongqing and Nanjing on the Yangtze can reach 36C at the hottest time of year. Temperatures in winter drop well below freezing and can be as cold as in northern cities.
In the south of China, near Guangzhou, the summer is a season of typhoons between July and September. Temperatures can easily rise to 40C. Winters are short - between January and March - and not as cold as the north.
