Hollywood film director James Cameron’s Cameron Pace Group has announced a joint venture with two Chinese partners targetting the Chinese film and television industries.

‘This is an enormous untapped market that is right on the verge of the transition from 2D to 3D. This is the best place for us to create a kind of second home,’ Cameron says. ‘The China venture, based in Beijing, will provide technology and support, rather than co-producing film.’

The venture will involve the supply of advanced 3D filming equipment and production services, with a possible collaboration with state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) on developing 3D TV.

‘We expect it to expand very rapidly, from initially maybe a handful of productions a year to, two or three years from now, we could be talking about thousands of hours of TV production,’ Cameron adds, looking to CCTV and regional broadcasters to adopt the format. ‘That’s our goal, in any case.’

The announcement follows that of an additional 14 foreign films to be shown in the country, if the movies are made in 3D or for the big-screen Imax format.