BEIJING, May 18 -- CHINA'S gala showing of "The Da Vinci Code" yesterday was the world's first, beating the official Cannes premiere by a few hours in a move that underscores Hollywood's efforts to woo Chinese viewers.

People walk past a poster advertising the premiere of "The Da Vinci Code" in Beijing last night. An audience in China's capital became the first in the world to see the film, beating the official Cannes debut by a few hours.

    Invitations to the China debut, at the upscale Oriental Plaza Mall in downtown Beijing, said the film was scheduled to start at 9pm, about an hour before the premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

    Cannes is still considered the "official worldwide premiere," said Li Chow, general manager in Beijing for the movie's distributor, Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

    But the one-hour head start electrified Chinese media. The Beijing News newspaper declared: "China to be the First with Beijing Premiere of 'Da Vinci Code.'"

    While China accounts for a small fraction of Hollywood's global earnings, American filmmakers have a huge and growing interest in courting the Chinese market. Box office sales hit a record in China last year, reaching 2 billion yuan (US$247 million).

    Four of the top-10 biggest money-makers were foreign, with Warner Brothers' "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" the No. 2 earner, bringing in 93 million yuan.

    While "The Da Vinci Code" marks a new high in Hollywood's marketing effort, it has increasingly been giving China special attention. Last year US studios included Chinese cities in the simultaneous worldwide releases of the latest "Harry Potter" film and "Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith."

    Under current regulations, only 20 foreign movies per year are allowed to share in Chinese box office revenues.

    "Da Vinci" is being given the widest release yet for a foreign film in China, Li said, with some 393 prints sent to theaters, breaking the record of 380 prints set by "King Kong" last year.

    "I think this is the film with the highest profile in China this year," Li said.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily)