For most regular Chinese movie-goers, watching the latest Hollywood blockbuster shortly after it is released is virtually impossible: copyright purchase hassle, screenplay translation and copy distribution usually drag the process out far later than in any other country.

But Zhang Baoquan, a real estate developer in Beijing, is working on a way of cutting that wait to less than a month. Even better, Chinese movie fans will be able to watch films in the comfort of their own homes provided they have broadband access to the Internet.

"This is nothing like a mission impossible," Zhang beamed sitting in the lobby of a downtown Beijing hotel last week. "In the broadband era, everything is possible."

The 44-year-old real estate tycoon's vision is to construct the country's largest broadband-based entertainment industry platform where users can play online games, watch movies, and do trade in audio/video copyright.

As part of his ambition, Zhang has earmarked 300 to 500 million yuan (US$36-60 million) for the construction of an Internet Data Centre (IDC) covering 5,000 square metres in Beijing, making it the second largest IDC in China. The first phase of the project is scheduled for completion by the end of this year.

"The platform will have the capacity to perform stably even under heavy traffic, which is likely in the future. The IDC will solve the problem once and for all," he said.

As a film copyright trade centre, Zhang's platform will provide network projectors to theatres in China. Once they pay for the copyright online, they will be allowed to immediately download digital copies for audiences, he said.

During the process, major technical problems, including the security of online payment, image transmission and effective measures to counter piracy, will be solved, he said.

Industry insiders, who were first surprised by Zhang's bold move, have now come to terms with Zhang's vision to converge an IDC service with his would-be digital platform.

Beijing Telecom, impressed by Zhang's foresight, have decided to provide lease lines with 2 megabytes bandwidth to theatres that will use Zhang's network film projectors.

"With this bandwidth, theatres will be able to use the network film projections provided by Zhang to play movies after they buy the copyright from the platform," said Wang Fule, head of Beijing Telecom's network department. "The plan will cover over 80 theatres in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan."

Although the investment comes amid a downturn in the network economy, Zhang is optimistic about its prospects, which he calls a "sure thing."

"After China joins the WTO, the film industry will open up further to foreign capital. It will become one of the world's most attractive markets for the industry," he said.

China currently allows the import of only 10 US-made films a year, but that number may be increased to 20 when China joins the WTO. Most of the imported movies achieve rewarding office box sales across the country.

Zhang says he will be seeking to co-operate with foreign entertainment business giants, such as Warner Brothers and Disney to bring their movies or educational programmes to China.

"My platform will serve as an important channel not only for the film industry but also for online education," he said.

With the help of high technology, such as the broadband system, the process will be much more time and cost effective, he added.

What Zhang is targeting is a huge yet unexplored market. As broadband and digital television sets gain in popularity in China, the online entertainment business, such as the online music, games or VODs (videos on demand), has forged a fledgling but alluring market.

Incomplete statistics from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) indicate that in 2000, more than 500 million people went to cinemas last year, according to tickets sold.

"No one can ignore China's huge population and its fledgling market, especially amongst the younger generations who spend billions of yuan every year on audio/video and online educational products," he added.

The platform business plan also includes the provision of online music in MP3 or even MP4 format, he said.

Born in 1957 in Zhenjiang, East China's Jiangsu Province, Zhang has in his time adopted the roles of carpenter, soldier, television programmer producer, movie director and real estate developer. He is also a member of the Chinese Calligraphers Association and the Chinese Writers Association for his expertise in calligraphy and painting.

A former Beijing Film Academy graduate, Zhang attributes his business success to his rich life experiences, typified by qualities such as dedication, persistence and discipline.

"If you want to succeed, you must learn how to keep going, and never say die. On top of that, you should be very observant and open-minded."

The platform could be the best test yet for his business flair.

Besides serving as a movie distribution channel, he is trying to make it China's biggest broadband-based online game centre.

Referring to South Korea where over one-third of Internet users go online to play broadband games, Zhang said he believed as broadband becomes more and more popular, Chinese young people will also spend much of their online time playing games in the near future.

Statistics from the Ministry of Information Industry indicate that by the end of last year, there were 22.5 million Internet users in China. Many officials and experts believe the figure could soar to 60 million in two years.

Zhang plans to negotiate with broadband game producers in South Korea and transplant their games onto his platform.

"Online gaming will be a very lucrative business that could rack up tens of thousands of dollars every year by simply charging players a membership," he boasted.

His ultimate target, however, is to turn the platform into China's largest business-to-customer (B2C) market for the whole entertainment industry, including the copyright trade, sales of audio/video products, MP3 downloads and Web-based education programmes.

For this purpose, Zhang said he would set up his own subsidiary companies to operate film and music production, distribution and airing.