PREMIERE PLAYER

China's Tencent Pictures is aiming to hit the big time as an investor in the global movie market, Xu Fan reports.

Co-financing deals for blockbusters such as Zhang Yimou's latest film Shadow and the new Terminator outing, have quickly propelled Tencent Pictures - a newcomer that made its first foray in China's film industry in 2015 - into the upper rankings of global movie backers.

In the new 33-title lineup unveiled on Monday by Tencent Pictures, the film and television arm of Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, two big-budget Hollywood players revealed that the Chinese media company is now on board as one of their financiers.