China, India pact on entertainment

Duo set up joint venture to promote arts

By PATRICK FRATER

In a rare Chinese-Indian entertainment pact, India’s Pyramid Saimira Theater Ltd. and the China Society of Music Research Board have set up a joint venture — Jiangsu Pyramid Longzhe Group — to promote the arts in China.

“We will create a huge theater chain network, food courts, gaming parlors and other entertainment services,” said Pyramid managing director P.S. Saminathan. “We will also bring international content to China and will showcase and market Chinese content across the world.” As regulation of foreign media remains very strict in China, and the two countries are still tussling over certain border areas, move represents a doubly rare thawing of relations in a sector that China regards as politically sensitive.

A memorandum was signed in Beijing, marked by a series of live performances there and in Nanjing.