Hong Kong: Fifty-nine per cent of the respondents of a survey of exhibitors conducted at Hong Kong International Film and Television Market (Filmart) said that the Chinese mainland would be the market of greatest potential for the overall entertainment industry.

More than 60 per cent of the respondents said that the overall business results over the past 12 months were ‘very good’ or ‘quite good’. TV had the greatest growth prospects, followed by digital entertainment and films, the respondents felt.

Sixty-seven per cent of the respondents said that the TV industry also had good prospects in the mainland, followed by the digital entertainment industry with 56 per cent, and 54 per cent from the film industry.

According to a Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) press release, the results were obtained from face-to-face interviews about markets and industry trends from 330 industry players from across the world.

China had the largest potential for Hong Kong (HK) content, with Taiwan ranked as second largest for HK content in TV and the digital entertainment. The USA ranked second as the market with the largest potential for the film industry.

China was the most popular place to start a business in the next three years with a ranking of 56 per cent, with HK coming in second at 53 per cent.

Respondents regarded HK as the best platform for reaching the Chinese mainland and other Asian markets with 74 per cent agreeing that HK was a major Asian content production, distribution, trading and film financing center.

Ninety-five per cent said that co-production would continue as a hot trend and 81 per cent agreed that cross-border convergence is expected to bring in more business opportunities.