Like many international corporations that now have a China story in their global development, IMAX Corporation — the world's leading theater company specializing in immersive motion picture technologies — is no exception.
It starts with the company's strategy. "Don't act like an outsider, act like an insider," said CEO Richard Gelfond.
IMAX's history in the China market dates back more than 15 years, when Gelfond had the vision to go there.
"I just had a very strong feeling that China was going to be both a highly growing economy and I had a feeling that the Chinese government wanted to open up the doors to more foreign products and more international ideas," said the 58-year-old Gelfond.
"IMAX really provides this wonderful experience and I felt that was going to be a fit (with the Chinese market)," he added.
To test his hunch, Gelfond tried it out in one of the first theaters IMAX opened in China in Shanghai in 2001 by being a movie-goer himself.
The IMAX CEO sat amongst a group of students watching a space movie and watched how excited the audience was to experience the film in 3D.
"I remember feeling a personal sense of accomplishment," said Gelfond. "Had we not made the effort to reach out to China, these children would never been exposed to something like that."
Providing this new movie-going experience is not only a "profitable" thing for IMAX, it's also a good way to link our peoples and cultures closer, he said.
The entertainment business in China has picked up rapidly in recent years. China's box office sales totaled $1.79 billion in the first half of this year — a 36 percent year- on-year increase.
This has created a favorable environment for companies like IMAX. With some 40 employees in China, IMAX now has more than 150 theaters across the country with current contracts for 400 more in the works in the next few years, said Gelfond.
In July, the company signed a deal with China's Wanda Group, which bought AMC Theatres, to build more than 120 new IMAX theaters in China, making the Chinese company the largest foreign partner for IMAX.
"With the Wanda agreement — if it goes to its potential — that will be 400 theaters in the country which will make it about the same size as all of North America," said Gelfond.
Greater China accounted for about 15 percent of IMAX's first-half revenue. With the potential of this growing market, China has become the largest outside of the US for the Canadian company, said Gelfond.
"When I started going to China and when IMAX started a business there, I had no idea that it would grow to the point it is now," said Gelfond. "It certainly has exceeded my expectations."
The company has participated in various events in China, including some film festivals where Gelfond was stopped by Chinese fans for autographs. "This never happened to me here in the US," he joked.
Gelfond said the next step for IMAX in China will go beyond just opening more theaters.
"We are also looking at other products we can release in the whole world, specifically in China," he said, adding China will account for between 25 to 30 percent of IMAX business in the next five years. "If all goes well, in the not-too-distant future, you will see us entering other businesses."
Gelfond's efforts to expand the IMAX business in China have earned him recognition from the National Committee on US-China Relations, a non-profit organization that promotes US-China relations. He will be honored at the organization's annual gala dinner on Wednesday night in New York.
"This is especially meaningful for me because I have a passion for China," said Gelfond. "I personally, as CEO of the company, oversee a lot of things, but our efforts in China are something I handle personally because I feel so strongly about them.
"Whenever you are recognized for your passion, it has special meaning to you," said Gelfond.