China's documentary film producers should expand cooperation with their foreign counterparts to help promote Sino-foreign cultural exchanges in the coming years, said a senior official.
"We also encourage more overseas documentary film producers and companies to come to the mainland to jointly shoot documentary films," said Gao Changli, director of the publicity department of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.
"The expansion of Sino-foreign cooperation will help domestic companies sell more Chinese documentary films abroad, helping foreigners learn more about this ancient Eastern country," Gao said at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival (China) in the Guangdong provincial capital on Wednesday.
"Relevant departments will continue to introduce more preferential policies to encourage and support the development of the documentary film industry in the coming years," he said.
According to Gao, China is expected to produce more than 6,000 hours of documentary films this year. In 2013, it produced 4,000 hours, up from 3,000 hours the previous year.
It is the 11th year the southern metropolis has hosted the international documentary film festival, which aims to promote Chinese culture abroad and Sino-foreign cooperation.
Gao urged domestic documentary film producers and companies to grasp the golden opportunity to expand cooperation with their foreign counterparts, bring the domestic market more in line with international practices and open more sales channels during this year's event.
"The event has now become a good platform for promoting Sino-foreign cultural exchanges and expanding sales of domestic documentary films," he said.
In addition to a showcase of Sino-foreign documentary films and trade, seminars, forums, lectures, and training will be part of the three-day event, which will end on Friday.
More than 3,050 documentary films from 85 nations and regions are part of this year's event, organizers said.
Trade at last year's festival was valued at more than 150 million yuan ($24.5 million).
The annual event is jointly organized by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Guangdong provincial government.
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